{"id":27441,"date":"2020-02-03T16:59:56","date_gmt":"2020-02-03T16:59:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/?p=27441"},"modified":"2020-02-03T16:59:56","modified_gmt":"2020-02-03T16:59:56","slug":"a-new-biologic-alternative-to-an-electronic-pacemaker","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/2020\/02\/a-new-biologic-alternative-to-an-electronic-pacemaker\/","title":{"rendered":"A new biologic alternative to an electronic pacemaker"},"content":{"rendered":"

The electronic pacemaker has been the gold standard for treating abnormal heart rhythms. The small, battery-operated device uses electrodes to deliver a steady wave of electrical shocks to the heart, forcing contraction and allowing the organ to properly pump blood through the body.<\/p>\n

Now,\u00a0University of Houston research scientists are one step closer to creating a biologic alternative for electronic pacemakers. Led by Bradley McConnell, Ph.D.<\/a>, an associate professor of pharmacology, the team developed biologic cardiac pacemaker-like cells by taking fat stem cells and reprogramming them as an alternative treatment for heart conditions such as conduction system disorders and heart attacks.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is very exciting work,\u201d said McConnell, whose work was published in the January 2020 issue of Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology<\/em><\/a>\u00a0as a co-senior author. \u201cThese cells that we\u2019re creating, biological pacemakers, will be a therapeutic approach to correct disorder of the induction system or\u2014potentially, in a myocardial infarction (heart attack)\u2014bridge the electrical properties of the heart after a heart attack. This is to circumvent limitations of the electronic pacemaker cell.\u201d<\/p>\n

McConnell first took stem cells found in fat and converted them into cardiac progenitor cells. Then, he used a unique combination of SHOX2, HCN2 and TBX5 (SHT5) transcription factors and channel proteins to reprogram the progenitor cells into pacemaker-like cells.<\/p>\n

Serving as the heart\u2019s natural regulator, pacemaker cells are responsible for generating electrical impulses that set the normal rhythm and pace for blood to pump.<\/p>\n

Alternatively, pacemaker-like cells\u2014 as the name suggests\u2014operate likewise and share similar gene expression profiles with their cellular cousins. McConnell is working on optimizing these cells to become more like an actual pacemaker cell.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe best approach to therapy would be to create something \u2026 biological, whereas an electrical pacemaker is an exogenous device, which has limitations just based on the fact that it\u2019s foreign to the body,\u201d McConnell said.<\/p>\n

He noted that electronic pacemakers have been a tremendous innovation in preserving quality of life, but they carry certain risks and complications associated mechanical devices, including infection, swelling, bruising or bleeding around the implantation site. The devices also typically last five to 15 years.<\/p>\n

Biological pacemakers, which wouldn’t need to be replaced, could adapt to the body and grow with the patient\u2014whether that person is an adult or child.\u00a0Once implanted, the pacemaker-like cells become fully integrated with the heart.<\/p>\n

\u201cBatteries don\u2019t last all that long, but this would hopefully circumvent those problems,\u201d McConnell said. \u201cThese would be part of the heart implanted forever. They\u2019re going to live in the heart and be part of the actual heart. This is a long-term therapeutic.\u201d<\/p>\n

While conducting in-human clinical trials remains years away, the researcher said this is the first step toward advancements in developing a biologic pacemaker.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is definitely the beginning of a great avenue of research that we\u2019re extremely excited about,\u201d he added. \u201cHopefully, one day sooner than later, we\u2019ll be able to test these things in actual patients in clinical trials.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The electronic pacemaker has been the gold standard for treating abnormal heart rhythms. The small, battery-operated device uses electrodes to deliver a steady wave of electrical shocks to the heart, forcing contraction and allowing the organ to properly pump blood through the body. Now,\u00a0University of Houston research scientists are one step closer to creating a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":27443,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[4397,4398,748,4399],"yoast_head":"\nA new biologic alternative to an electronic pacemaker - TMC News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"University of Houston researchers have developed biologic cardiac pacemaker-like cells by taking fat stem cells and reprogramming them to serve as an alternative to an implanted heart regulation device.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/2020\/02\/a-new-biologic-alternative-to-an-electronic-pacemaker\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A new biologic alternative to an electronic pacemaker - 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