Researchers remodel cells

Penn researchers have successfully created heart cells from skin and brain cells.

Pharmacology professor James Eberwine has been working on the process to create heart cells, which are much-needed in regenerative medicine, for almost two years. The project — a collaboration between three labs and eight researchers — is the first to convert a non-heart cell into a heart cell by using RNA transfer.

“To transdifferentiate cells using RNA is innovative and challenging,” said Tae Kyung Kim, a post-doctoral fellow who worked on the project. “I am very pleased to be involved in this project and enjoy finding new results and learning about cells everyday.”

In the process, researchers use cells that are easily obtained from the body such as skin or brain cells, also known as fibroblasts and astrocytes, respectively.

RNA is isolated from the heart cells and transferred through a method known as Transcriptome Induced Phenotype Remodeling.

At this point, “we observed the phenotypes of cardiomyocytes from target cells,” Kim said, using the scientific name for specialized muscle cells in the heart.

Rising College sophomore Brittany Mayweather, a member of the Biological Basis of Behavior Society, said she found “it particularly exciting to hear about the existence of new methods that can reshape the properties of living cells.”

“It is especially inspiring to know this cutting-edge research is going on right on Penn’s campus,” she said.

As for the future of this research, Eberwine said its specific applications are presently unclear.

Eberwine’s research lab only attempts “to understand the constraints that define the cells,” he said, but the findings may provide the background for big changes in the medical world in the future.

The cells could be used for patients with heart diseases, heart attacks and cardiac problems, Eberwine said.

They would also be useful for the screening of medicines by drug companies. Instead of having to use real heart cells which are difficult to acquire, drug companies would only need to turn a skin cell into a heart cell, he said.

These potential uses, however, are years away, according to Eberwine.

He is currently expanding on these results by working to create other types of cells that could be of use.

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