(c)The J. David Gladstone Institutes
Gladstone InstituteのDeepak Srivastava氏
心筋梗塞により拍動しなくなった心筋細胞を，機能する細胞に変換する方法が，動物実験で成功した。虚血状態になり栄養が届かなくなった心筋細胞は，通常，元の機能を回復することなく瘢痕組織になる。実験では，心筋梗塞を起こしたマウスの心臓の障害を受けた部位に，胎仔で心臓の発生を誘導する3つの遺伝子を直接導入した。すると，拍動の止まった細胞が1カ月で拍動し始め，3カ月以内には拍動が強くなり，拍出する血液量も増えた。この方法では，実験室での幹細胞（さまざまな細胞に分化が可能な細胞）の作成や幹細胞の移植なしに細胞を再プログラムでき，画期的な再生医療の治療法につながると期待される。（吉田素子）
Gladstone Scientists Regenerate Damaged Hearts By Transforming Scar Tissue into Beating Heart Muscle
Laboratory breakthrough may hold promise for millions with heart failure
Scientists at the Gladstone Institutes today are announcing a research breakthrough in mice that one day may help doctors restore hearts damaged by heart attacks—by converting scar-forming cardiac cells into beating heart muscle.
These scientists previously transformed such cells into cardiac muscle-like cells in petri dishes. But Gladstone postdoctoral scholar Li Qian, PhD, along with researchers in the laboratory of Deepak Srivastava, MD, has now accomplished this transformation in living animals--and with even greater success. The results, which may have broad human-health implications, are described in the latest issue of Nature, available online today.
Cardiovascular disease is the world's leading cause of death. Annually in the United States alone, the nearly 1 million Americans who survive a heart attack are left with failing hearts that can no longer beat at full capacity.
“The damage from a heart attack is typically permanent because heart-muscle cells--deprived of oxygen during the attack--die and scar tissue forms,” said Dr. Srivastava, who directs cardiovascular and stem cell research at Gladstone, an independent and nonprofit biomedical-research institution. “But our experiments in mice are a proof of concept that we can reprogram non-beating cells directly into fully functional, beating heart cells--offering an innovative and less invasive way to restore heart function after a heart attack.”
In laboratory experiments with mice that had experienced a heart attack, Drs. Qian and Srivastava delivered three genes that normally guide embryonic heart development--together known as GMT--directly into the damaged region.
［単語和訳］
Regenerate：～を再生する Transforming：～を変換すること Scar Tissue：瘢痕組織 beating：拍動する～ Heart Muscle：心筋
Laboratory：実験室（での） breakthrough：大発見 hold promise for：～に有望である heart failure：心不全
mice：マウス heart attacks：心臓発作，心筋梗塞 converting：～を変換する scar-forming：瘢痕を形成する cardiac cells：心臓細胞
-like：～様の petri dishes：ペトリ皿 postdoctoral：博士課程終了後の PhD：博士 researchers：研究者 MD：医師 accomplished：成し遂げた transformation：変換 human-health：ヒトの健康にとっての implications：意味 online：オンラインで
Cardiovascular disease：心血管疾患 leading cause of death：死因の第一位 Annually：年間 are left with：～を持ち続ける failing hearts：不全心 at full capacity：フル稼働で
typically：通常は deprived of：～を奪われて stem cell：幹細胞 nonprofit：非営利の biomedical：生物医学の a proof of concept：概念実証 reprogram：再プログラミングする non-beating：拍動していない fully functional：完全に機能する innovative：革新的な invasive：侵襲的な embryonic：胎仔の heart development：心臓の発生
