• Lab-grown pig heart tissue could help re

    From ScienceDaily@1:317/3 to All on Tuesday, March 08, 2022 21:30:38
    Lab-grown pig heart tissue could help replace live animals in heart
    disease research

    Date:
    March 8, 2022
    Source:
    University of Surrey
    Summary:
    A new way to replicate what happens inside the heart after cardiac
    arrest could open new avenues for the study of heart regeneration
    whilst reducing the use of live animals in research, according to
    a new study.



    FULL STORY ==========================================================================
    A new way to replicate what happens inside the heart after cardiac
    arrest could open new avenues for the study of heart regeneration whilst reducing the use of live animals in research, according to a study from
    the University of Surrey and King's College London.


    ========================================================================== Researchers have developed a process that involves obtaining and growing
    thin slices of pig heart tissue which include both the epicardium --
    the most external layer of the heart that contains cells that can promote
    its recovery - - and underlying heart-muscle.

    The team treated the epicardial slices with stimulating compounds,
    showing that cells become activated in a way that replicates what happens
    in the heart after a heart attack. The new process was able to reproduce observations typically obtained in live animal models.

    Dr Paola Campagnolo, lead author of the study and Senior Lecturer in
    Molecular Cardiovascular Sciences at the University of Surrey, said: "This research typifies the One Health, One Medicine ethos at the University
    of Surrey, as our model could help us understand how to stimulate the
    repair process after heart attacks without the need to use live animals
    in the research. We are hopeful our model could lead to better health
    outcomes for humans and reduce the reliance on animal experiments in cardiovascular science." According to the British Heart Foundation,
    there are around 7.6 million people living with heart or circulatory
    disease in the UK. This disease causes a quarter of all deaths in the UK.

    The ability of the heart to recover after an injury is severely limited
    by the low number of regenerating cells within its tissue. The current
    research models and strategies aimed at improving the heart's repair
    process are mainly based on surgical procedures performed on laboratory animals.

    Dr Davide Maselli, Postdoctoral Research Associate and first author of
    the paper, said: "This work provides an innovative tool to study the
    healing from a heart attack. We believe that our model could be useful
    to dissect the role of different cells in the reparative process. In our consideration, it is extremely important that every step forward in this
    field delivers a clinical perspective for the patients while reducing the burden on research animals." The research, published in the journal npj Regenerative Medicine, proposes a system to study the regeneration of
    the heart in a laboratory dish and could therefore lead to a reduction
    in the number of small animals used in cardiovascular research.


    ========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_Surrey. Note: Content
    may be edited for style and length.


    ========================================================================== Journal Reference:
    1. D. Maselli, R. S. Matos, R. D. Johnson, C. Chiappini, P. Camelliti,
    P.

    Campagnolo. Epicardial slices: an innovative 3D organotypic model
    to study epicardial cell physiology and activation. npj Regenerative
    Medicine, 2022; 7 (1) DOI: 10.1038/s41536-021-00202-7 ==========================================================================

    Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/03/220308102757.htm

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