MRC-BHF Cardiovascular Stem Cell Research Strategic Development Grant

心脏病发作后，心肌不会再长回来。出于这个原因，干细胞方法再生心脏是有吸引力的。我们专注于使用胚胎干细胞（具有成为所需细胞类型的能力的原始细胞）或我们发现的一种罕见且意想不到的干细胞，它存在于心肌本身。这些实验旨在解决几个有趣而重要的问题。这些心脏干细胞在生命中来自哪里？它们在健康和患病的心脏中会变成什么？我们能否提高它们的数量或功能，以增强心脏的修复和再生？哪些特定的基因和基因间的联系控制着心肌的生成？使用先进的机器人方法来测试数百或数千种条件，以及先进的遗传方法来测量细胞中的每个基因，我们将研究哪些基因在心脏形成细胞中是活跃的，哪些基因对细胞功能很重要。

Heart muscle does not grow back following a heart attack. For this reason, a stem cell approach to regenerate the heart is attractive. We focus on using embryonic stem cells (primitive cells with the ability to become every cell type desired) or a rare and unexpected stem cell we discovered, which exists in heart muscle itself. These experiments are aimed at solving several fascinating and important problems. Where do these cardiac stem cells come from during life, and what do they become in healthy and diseased hearts? Can we improve their number or function to enhance the repair and regeneration of the heart? What specific genes and connections of genes control cardiac muscle creation? Using advanced robotic methods that test hundreds or thousands of conditions, and advanced genetic methods that measure every gene in the cells, we will study which genes are active in heart-forming cells and which are important for the cells function.