Cardiovascular Health 3.2 (Heart): Stem cells to the rescue?

Question 1

What are induced pluripotent stem cells?

Answer 1

Reprogrammed somatic stem cells using transcription factors.

Question 2

What are two disadvantages for stem cell transplantation?

Answer 2

• Oncogenesis

- Risk of arrythmia in hearts

Question 3

Can cardiomyocytes be induced from somatic cells?

Answer 3

Yes, but very difficult.

Question 4

What are two benefits of cardiomyocyte transplants?

Answer 4

Low risk of immune rejection, and stem cells needed for inducing them can be found easily in fat and blood.

Question 5

What are 3 distadvantage of cardiomyocyte transplantation?

Answer 5

• Limited proliferative potential, cant divide indefinitely.
• Low cardiogenic potential.
• Arrhythmia

Question 6

What are skeletal myoblasts? Can they be used in heart transplantation?

Answer 6

Undifferentiated skeletal muscle cells.

Problematic for transplant in hearts as they dont electrically integrate with the heart when differentiated.

Question 7

What is a cardiac resident stem cell?

Answer 7

Isolated from the heart itself, there are many different kinds.

Question 8

What are caridopoietic stem cells? How are they induced?

Answer 8

Not natural, induced from bone marrow derived cells. Reprogrammed/induced via drugs.

Question 9

Why is not use cardiac resident stem cells?

Answer 9

Hard to isolate as heart tissue is vital, and not readily available. Use from another individual presents immunological problems.

Question 10

How are cardiac resident stem cells obtained?

Answer 10

Heart tissue harvested following surgery.

Cells are cultured and purified using antibodies.

Question 11

What can cardiac resident cells turn into?

Answer 11

Cardiac cells, vascular cells, bone and fat.

Question 12

What happens after a myocardial infarct?

Answer 12

Necrosis of heart tissue occurs. Immune cells are attracted, which secrete enzymes that break down the extracellular matrix.

Question 13

What secretes extracellular matrix?

Answer 13

Fibroblast.

Question 14

Following heart tissue necrosis after a myocardial infarct, what happens to surrounding heart tissue?

Answer 14

They have compensatory hypertrophy.

Question 15

What is the paracrine effect in the heart (name 4)?

Answer 15

Cells secrete factors to alleviate effects such as preventing apoptosis, inflammaton, secreting growth and angiogenesis factors.

Question 16

Does stem cell quality differ by age? What about healthy vs diseased (diabetic)?

Answer 16

Yes, young stem cells are better and more viable than older ones. Same with healthy vs diseased.

Question 17

Besides health state and age, what else affects stem cell quality and viability (name 2)?

Answer 17

Method of isolation

Culture serum used

Question 18

How many cells die in a mycardial infarct?

Answer 18

~1 billion cells.