http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. Stem cells drawn from amniotic fluid show promise for tissue engineering, but it's important to know what they can and cannot do. A new study by researchers at Rice University and Texas Children's Hospital has shown that these stem cells can communicate with mature heart cells and form electrical couplings with each other similar to those found in heart tissue. But these electrical connections alone do not prompt amniotic cells to become cardiac cells. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-amniotic-fluid-stem-cells-heart.html Medical research Thu, 02 May 2013 13:45:44 EST news286721135 Stem cells and tissue-specific cells can be grown in abundance from mature mammalian cells simply by blocking a certain membrane protein, according to scientists at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Their experiments, reported today in Scientific Reports, also show that the process doesn't require other kinds of cells or agents to artificially support cell growth and doesn't activate cancer genes. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-recipe-large-stem-cells-requires.html Medical research Wed, 17 Apr 2013 05:00:02 EST news285354156 Viewed from the outside, our body looks completely symmetrical. However, most internal organs – including the heart – are formed asymmetrically. The right side of the heart is responsible for pulmonary circulation; the left side supplies the rest of the body. This asymmetry allows the heart to do its job effectively. In a study on zebrafish embryos, the researchers Dr. Justus Veerkamp and PD Dr. Salim Seyfried from the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) Berlin-Buch have now shown how the left and right sides of the heart develop differently. Their findings were published in the journal Developmental Cell. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-insights-heart.html Medical research Tue, 26 Mar 2013 10:57:22 EST news283514237 (Medical Xpress)—Researchers at Columbia Engineering have developed a new "plug-and-play" method to assemble complex cell microenvironments that is a scalable, highly precise way to fabricate tissues with any spatial organization or interest—such as those found in the heart or skeleton or vasculature. The study reveals new ways to better mimic the enormous complexity of tissue development, regeneration, and disease, and is published in the March 4 Early Online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-interlocking-blocks-complex-tissues-precise.html Medical research Tue, 12 Mar 2013 09:38:12 EST news282299879 A computer model of the heart wall predicted risk of irregular heart rhythms and sudden cardiac death in patients, paving the way for the use of more complex cardiac models to calculate the consequences of genetic, lifestyle and other changes to the heart. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-arrhythmias-sudden-cardiac-death-virtual.html Cardiology Thu, 13 Dec 2012 06:51:15 EST news274603864 (Medical Xpress)—Researchers at the University of Virginia have developed a new model of how the heart reacts to stresses such as high blood pressure, shedding light on a common cause of heart failure and facilitating the development of new drugs to treat and prevent it. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-drugs-heart-failure.html Medical research Thu, 13 Dec 2012 06:22:04 EST news274602114 (Medical Xpress)—A painstaking effort to create a biocompatible patch to heal infant hearts is paying off at Rice University and Texas Children's Hospital. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-biocompatible-patch-infants-birth-defects.html Medical research Wed, 12 Dec 2012 10:48:19 EST news274531680 Recent research has shown that there are new cells that develop in the heart, but how these cardiac cells are born and how frequently they are generated remains unclear. In new research from Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH), researchers use a novel method to identify these new heart cells and describe their origins. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-birth-cardiac-cells.html Cardiology Wed, 05 Dec 2012 13:00:19 EST news273929710 (Medical Xpress)—A fluorescent protein from a deep-sea jellyfish has helped scientists isolate heart cells in the laboratory, creating an invaluable aid to work on heart disease treatments and extraordinary opportunities for stem cell researchers around the world. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-fluorescent-protein-scientists-heart-stem.html Medical research Mon, 24 Sep 2012 06:37:04 EST news267687415 A promising new drug target for the treatment and prevention of heart failure has been discovered by researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, NY, US. The study was presented at the ESC Congress 2012 by principal investigator Professor Roger J. Hajjar, MD. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-drug-treatment-heart-failure.html Cardiology Mon, 27 Aug 2012 11:00:02 EST news265280484 UCLA stem cell researchers have found for the first time a surprising and unexpected plasticity in the embryonic endothelium, the place where blood stem cells are made in early development. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-embryonic-blood-vessels-stem-cells.html Medical research Thu, 02 Aug 2012 12:00:16 EST news263127566 University of Michigan heart researchers are shedding light on a safer method for steadying an abnormal heart rhythm that prevents collateral damage to healthy cells. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-fine-tuning-cardiac-ablation-quicker.html Cardiology Tue, 24 Jul 2012 09:30:01 EST news262340911 Damaged and aged heart tissue of older heart failure patients was rejuvenated by stem cells modified by scientists, according to research presented at the American Heart Association's Basic Cardiovascular Sciences 2012 Scientific Sessions. The study is simultaneously published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-aging-heart-cells-rejuvenated-stem.html Cardiology Mon, 23 Jul 2012 17:02:21 EST news262281733 A cutting-edge method developed at the University of Michigan Center for Arrhythmia Research successfully uses stem cells to create heart cells capable of mimicking the heart's crucial squeezing action. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-method-cardiac-muscle-patches-stem.html Cardiology Tue, 19 Jun 2012 09:40:10 EST news259317555 Heart-like cells made in the laboratory from the skin of patients with a common cardiac condition contract less strongly than similarly created cells from unaffected family members, according to researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine. The cells also exhibit abnormal structure and respond only dully to the wave of calcium signals that initiate each heartbeat. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-scientists-lab-made-heart-cells-ideal.html Cardiology Wed, 18 Apr 2012 14:00:04 EST news253973244 Diabetes is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease and can reduce blood supply to the heart tissue and damage cardiac cells, resulting in heart failure. New research has investigated if nerve growth factor (NGF) gene therapy can prevent diabetic heart failure and small vascular disease in mice. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-nerve-growth-factor-gene-therapy.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Tue, 20 Dec 2011 16:00:04 EST news243619082 (Medical Xpress) -- UH Manoa’s John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM) Assistant Professor Michelle Matter and her colleagues in the Department of Cell and Molecular Biology and the Center for Cardiovascular Research have discovered a molecular pathway that may help reduce the damaging effects of an enlarged heart, caused by hypertension or a heart attack. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-molecular-pathway-heart.html Cardiology Wed, 14 Dec 2011 06:13:40 EST news243065612 Stem cell therapies promise to regenerate the infarcted heart through the replacement of dead cardiac cells and stimulation of the growth of new vessels. New research has found the transplantation of stem cells that reside in human veins can help in the recovery of a heart attack. The findings could lead, in the next few years, to the first human clinical trial. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-mural-cells-saphenous-vein-long-term.html Cardiology Thu, 25 Aug 2011 17:05:20 EST news233510709 A scientist at the Gladstone Institutes has discovered how gene regulation can make hearts beat out of sync, offering new hope for the millions who suffer from a potentially fatal heart condition. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-scientist-genetic-factor-implicated-heartbeat.html Medical research Mon, 08 Aug 2011 15:20:01 EST news232035365 (Medical Xpress) -- A University at Albany biologist and his research team have discovered that a tiny cardiac molecule may have major implications for understanding irregular heartbeat, or arrhythmia. Haijun Chen, a UAlbany assistant professor of biological sciences, published his and his team's findings in the June 7 issue of Science Signaling. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-heart-molecule-arrhythmia.html Cardiology Mon, 20 Jun 2011 07:02:46 EST news227772090 Johns Hopkins scientists have developed a simplified, cheaper, all-purpose method they say can be used by scientists around the globe to more safely turn blood cells into heart cells. The method is virus-free and produces heart cells that beat with nearly 100 percent efficiency, they claim. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-04-universal-virus-free-method-blood-cells.html Medical research Fri, 08 Apr 2011 17:26:15 EST news221502353