A paper by a research team led by Dr hab. Ewa Zuba-Surma from the Department of Cell Biology of the JU Faculty of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Biotechnology was published in the prestigious cardiology journal “Circulation Research”. The title of the article is “Induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived extracellular vesicles are safer and more effective for cardiac repair than iPSCs”.
The article resulted from the team’s collaboration with research group of Professor Buddhadeb Dawn from the Cardiovascular Research Institute (University of Kansas Medical Centre, USA). Scientists from the JU Małopolska Centre of Biotechnology as well as other units of the JU Faculty of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Biotechnology also contributed to the research.
The studies have demonstrated the functional activity of extracellular vesicles (EVs) released from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC-EVs), including their influence on functions and regenerative potential of heart cells in vitro and in vivo, which may provide the basis for the development of novel regenerative strategies for cardiac muscle.
Thanks to the multidirectional analysis of the molecular composition of iPSC-EVs, a number of factors regulating processes accompanying the regeneration of myocardium have been identified, including apoptosis, angiogenesis, and remodeling of cardiac tissues.
The paper supports the conception proposed by Dr. hab. Ewa Zuba Surma’s research team, which points to a possibility of the practical use of paracrine IPSCs in tissue regeneration and their application as the source of “cell-less” derivatives which can be safely used in in vivo treatment of tissue damage.
