Stem cells have been used to form cardiac tissues, thanks to their versatility, on account of being totipotent (inherent tendency to form unlimited specialized cell types). Even though, the current research is using mouse heart cells, the scientists involved, hope to use human cardiac cells to study the formation of cardiac tissue, and the growth of heart in fetuses. Enhanced knowledge about fetus heart development would help to create safer drugs for pregnant women.

In a growing fetus, stem cells change into heart tissue through a chain of chemical reactions, albeit some Physics also being involved. DNA structure can be influenced by stretching and pulling the cells of the body in a certain way.

In the study, published in Nature Communications, the stem cells were in a growth medium which induced their differentiation. A special chemical layer, having areas of impression of oxygen plasma was added. This caused areas of irregularity in chemical and physical properties in the medium, which transformed the stem cells into different cardiac tissue cells. This process showed results similar to that in the making of a human heart.

A drug, thalidomide, has already been tested on some of the artificially created tissue cells, which hindered the proper growth of the cells, as presumed.

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Author:Technology Blog