细胞治疗的心脏组织再生的希望

jack1381818

5 h. @- c; q, }

, o! z; L6 ?% ~$ x* M( NCell Therapy's heart tissue regeneration hope
1 }, M  ^/ C- G' D: l1 L5 C) ]  f, ?$ v6 X: D& C# w
Research by a team of scientists in Wales has shown early signs of being able to regenerate damaged heart tissue.
. @, Z/ N" u. J( C. J. {
; @& z' [  M4 j. M% jBy experimenting at Cardiff and Swansea university laboratories, Cell Therapy hopes to develop new treatments for heart failure over the next five years.1 s8 l0 _0 j' p2 r

  E+ Z' H. B9 y8 T# OSigns from early stem cell trials "look very positive", it said.6 o; {. w$ e4 g; C# I. u! a1 _& u

3 L: i6 X4 j6 v+ a7 [$ _/ G/ ?Ex-First Minister Rhodri Morgan, a company director, said it could bring a cure for incurable heart disease.& Y9 i/ [( d5 h; L0 W

0 T2 ^3 z  m+ ~: ZThe research team was co-founded by Nobel prize-winning scientist Sir Martin Evans, who first isolated and grew embryonic stem cells in the 1980s.; p! {9 D+ {/ P# k2 {
Cell Therapy Limited's executive director Ajan Reginald told BBC Wales: "We've identified what we think is a very potent type of stem cell which is heart specific.
/ ~, b9 @) {# W# w6 B) C* b$ C' `6 D; r/ O) a
'Very scary'
2 m2 B4 J9 d  u4 O"And what our therapy does is to produce more of those so that you have a large number of those cells to help you to regenerate the part of the heart that is damaged.
  n& i- A: j# n6 x"We've finished our first clinical trial which was focused on safety. The interim analysis looks very positive and very fortunately we've also seen some benefit - the study does show some signs of early regeneration."
9 h* f, D/ Y- R' \) v0 D0 |$ M; yOne of the company's directors, former first minister Rhodri Morgan has a very personal history with heart disease.
  ~1 ]$ b* V& M! d" k) D' y9 ~+ DIn July 2007, weeks after a gruelling assembly election campaign, Mr Morgan suffered a heart attack.
8 R" {* {7 `8 `# X$ k
( E/ O9 A2 @( Q  f( ATalks about a coalition cabinet were put on hold as the then first minister had "stents" inserted into two blocked arteries.7 y# Y6 J, E4 E: V

% B. C! `1 C# a! O" h5 R8 L"It was very scary," Mr Morgan told BBC Wales, "in your heart of hearts you know - this is the big one."
  q* |! L- x+ [& KWelsh label
- r5 V$ b$ S! j& b5 Q) _6 t1 d
/ n- E' X* v( H" F0 w"But I was very lucky because there was no permanent damage to my heart."+ q2 L6 h: s, ^, m+ @. ~

- U# W* F# S- @# o+ cAlmost exactly 50 years earlier Mr Morgan had seen his father go through the same experience.
: z6 H5 s' n; d" D1 [
6 W- @/ \1 I1 g) F# A% h"I'll always remember helping the ambulance man carry my father down the stairs," he said.
" R, d7 v) c7 k6 g$ F4 X8 d
0 S: J, s  o4 z2 Q6 U( g0 S- X"Heart disease has always been up there consciously for my brother and myself."
( r* m1 C. {, t" C3 g( ?" H. s# ~, N1 g8 Z
Mr Morgan's involvement with Cell Therapy is his first role in the private sector. . W+ G' X# p$ D, e

  X& g# e" N% ^; b* J3 F7 yHe said he wants to strengthen the company's Welsh roots.
- ?! q  v- N" g7 Y% A- g
" _4 {& @  {+ C: S3 h"If we can bring it off this would represent a cure for people with incurable heart disease.
. k5 R: J, T  P3 P0 O# o
( B; K  J  A/ y/ o9 u" ^' v"That's a tremendous advantage but the fact that it would have a Welsh label on it as well would be tremendous for Wales."* F! [+ O  u0 W( u9 @3 Y' _' ~