X-Message-Number: 32328
From: David Stodolsky <>
Subject: Regenerating Blood Vessels
Date: Thu, 21 Jan 2010 17:07:26 +0100

http://www.hhmi.org/news/rafii20100117.html

Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) researchers have devised a new  
method that increases the number of blood vessel-forming cells they  
can make from human embryonic stem cells. The advance could improve  
the odds for successful cell-based therapies to treat heart disease or  
stroke, and might also aid engineering of artificial organs.
Eventually, Rafii wants to inject the vascular endothelial cells into  
the hearts of patients with late-stage heart failure and see if the  
cells boost the heart's function. It could take three to four years to  
get there, he says, but with the current study, "we've taken the first  
major step to get to that stage.” The impact could extend beyond heart  
disease, as well. Patients with many conditions, such as stroke,  
clogged vessels in the lower limbs, or diabetes, could benefit from  
repairing blood vessels. And engineering organs requires blood vessels  
too, so Rafii's method of making blood vessel cells could aid efforts  
to construct organs in culture.


dss

David Stodolsky
  Skype: davidstodolsky

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