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 STEM CELLS IN THE FIGHT AGAINST CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE
Project leader: Eric J. Duckers, PhD, interventional cardiologist
Erasmus MC, University Medical Center Rotterdam
Budget: € 6.400.000
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Too much time and lack of direction
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| Can stem cells be used to limit the effects of a heart attack? After a heart attack, heart muscle cells are lost or replaced by scar tissue. This causes a decline in the muscular strength of the heart as well as its capacity. Patients have less energy and suffer increasing shortness of breath. Various stem cell therapies are currently being used to counter the effects of heart failure. However, cultivation of the necessary cells is extremely time-consuming, and this conflicts with the necessity to administer the stem cells immediately after the heart attack. There has also been little success in devising a way to administer stem cells exactly where they are needed the most and to keep them there for an extended period of time. |
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© BMM / Rogier Trompert Medical Art
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Therapeutic proteins at the right place
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In this project, an innovative technology will be developed using pre-programmed stem cells that live in tiny, 0.1 mm spheres, so-called Cellbeads. These Cellbeads will be brought into the damaged heart muscle via the blood vessels. Using this technology, the stem cells will remain at the desired site. The stem cells used will release a number of anti-inflammatory proteins that will have a therapeutic effect on the damaged heart muscle. This approach focuses on a healing effect that will continue up to many months after infarction and at exactly the right place. These special proteins will have a positive effect on the heart muscle cells already immediately after the heart attack. They prevent the formation of scar tissue and the further degradation heart muscle cells in the longer term.
The major advantage of this new approach is its immediate applicability: cells will not have to be isolated first or cultivated. Moreover, the method is flexible so that every random therapeutic protein can be manufactured on site in the heart for a longer period of time.
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Partners
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The following companies and institutes work together to make a success of CellBeads:
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Publications
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Contact
BioMedical Materials
Urmonderbaan 20/A
NL-6167 RD GELEEN
NETHERLANDS
T +31 (46) 702 2280
E info@bmm-program.nl
Last updated on 2012-08-13