The cells, called “pericytes”, were produced, grown and multiplied in a Technion lab in sufficiently large amounts to treat heart and blood vessel diseases
In the revolutionary research carried out by Prof. Joseph Itskovitz-Eldor, director of the Gynecology and Obstetrics Department of Rambam Medical Center, in his Stem Cell Research Laboratory in the Technion’s Rappaport Medical Faculty, together with Dr. Ayelet Daar-Vakhnin, “pericytes” – cells that have a crucial role in building blood vessels and in their functioning – were derived. The derivation took place during differentiation of embryonic stem cells using characteristic signs found on the cell membrane. When these derived cells were injected into the leg muscles of mice where the blood flow had almost completely been blocked, the pericytes created new blood vessels and restored the muscles cells that had been damaged by the lack of oxygen. The experiment simulated treatment of injury to muscles or tissues as a result of a disruption in blood supply – a phenomenon typical of complications related to common diseases such as heart disease, blood vessel disease and diabetes.
The pericyte cells were derived from both embryonic stem cells of fertilized eggs donated to research and induced pluripotent stem cells – cells taken from an adult and reprogrammed using genetic manipulation into cells with embryonic characteristics. Induced pluripotent stem cells can be differentiated into any type of human cell and tissue, similar to what happens to embryonic stem cells. Given that these can be derived from the patient him or herself, implanting the pericytes derived from these induced pluripotent stem cells should enable healing of the injured tissue and avert rejection of these cells by the patient’s body.
The report of this work recently appeared in the prestigious journal Circulation, a publication of the American Heart Association and was discussed at length in an editorial in the same journal. The results of the research are important both for understanding the processes of development of blood vessels and for treatment of common diseases marked by injury to the supply of blood to the heart, limbs, etc.
Additional research partners were Hagit Domev, Oren Ben Yosef, Dr. Mati Zuckerman, Dr. Naama Zeevi-Levin, Atara Novak, Yigal Germanguz, and Dr. Michal Amit.