Engineered Heart Tissue Mechanisms Probed

(NIH.gov)

6 Oct. 2020. A research institute is partnering with a company creating heart tissue patches from stem cells to better understand the details of how the patch works. Translational Genomics Research Institute in Phoenix, Arizona, or TGen, is working with Avery Therapeutics Inc. in Tucson to discover details about the company’s engineered heart tissue, down to molecular levels of action.

Avery Therapeutics is developing engineered heart tissue patches to provide patients with heart failure better treatment options than currently available drugs or surgery. Heart failure is a condition where the heart cannot pump enough blood to meet the body’s needs, a condition affecting some 6.2 million people in the U.S., according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Most cases of heart failure affect both the left and right sides of the heart, although in some cases only one side is affected. The leading causes of heart failure are conditions that weaken or damage the heart, including coronary heart disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes.

Avery’s engineered heart tissue, called MyCardia, is a membrane grown from induced pluripotent stem cells, also known as adult stem cells, since they’re derived from existing human tissue not embryos. The company says MyCardia tissue contains multiple cell types and acts like normal cardiac heart muscle. The biologically active membranes, says Avery, helps grow new blood vessels, provides structural support, increases nutrients to the heart, and improves blood flow.

Cardiologists and medical researchers at University of Arizona developed MyCardia, with two of the lead scientists, Jordan Lancaster and Steven Goldman, founding Avery Therapeutics in 2016. The company licenses the technology from University of Arizona for commercial development. While MyCardia has been tested in lab cultures and animals, it still needs a detailed understanding of its molecular mechanisms for eventual submissions to the Food and Drug Administration for clearance to begin clinical trials.

“Avery turned to TGen to understand which of their membranes are releasing molecules that produce therapeutic benefits,” says Patrick Pirrotte, director of TGen’s translational mass spectrometry center in an institute statement. “Our collaboration will help them understand the mechanism of action on the molecular level, and the potential benefits to patients.”

Pirrotte adds that “for a heart that is potentially weak, an inserted cardiac membrane could support regeneration of heart tissue.” TGen’s researchers are conducting mass spectrometry analysis with MyCardia, a technology for measuring interactions between light and matter, in this case to reveal the actions of proteins and metabolites stimulated by MyCardia to heal heart tissue.

Avery’s team believes its technology derived from stem cells can be applied to regenerating other tissue cells in the body beyond the heart. “It’s the concept of being able to take essentially any cell in the body,” notes Lancaster, “and convert it into an embryonic-like cell, and then being able to make any cell. That’s how we are making our heart muscle cells.”

More from Science & Enterprise:

• Skeletal Stem Cells Enhanced for Bone Repair
• Trial to Test Stem Cells for Covid-19 Prevention
• Engineered Immune, Stem Cells Studied for HIV Cure
• Biotechs Partner on Crispr for Stem Cell Transplants
• Stem Cell Therapy Licensed for Genetic Eye Disease

*     *     *