In a new study, researchers have developed a new way to help heal damage after a heart attack.
They developed a minimally invasive platform to deliver a nanomaterial, which can turn the body’s inflammatory response into a signal to heal.
The research was conducted by researchers at Northwestern University and the University of California, San Diego.
When a person has a heart attack, the extracellular matrix is stripped away and scar tissue forms in its place. This can decrease the heart’s functionality.
Previous research has shown that for heart attack survivors, the days immediately after the event are critical for their longevity and long-term healing of the heart’s tissue.
Currently, doctors use tissue engineering strategies to replace or supplement the extracellular matrix that degrades following a heart attack.
However, most promising hydrogels cannot be delivered to the heart using minimally invasive catheter delivery.
In the current study, the team has created a novel way to deliver a bioactivated, biodegradable, regenerative substance through a noninvasive catheter.
They used a catheter to deliver self-assembling peptides (short chains of amino acids instrumental for healing) to the heart following a heart attack.
The researchers injected a self-assembling peptide solution that seeks out the heart’s damaged extracellular matrix and the solution is then activated by the inflammatory environment itself and gels.
The material could create a self-assembling framework, which mimics the natural scaffold that holds cells and tissues together.
The team has tested this method in animals successfully.
One test showed that the material could be fed through a catheter without clogging and without interacting with human blood.
The researchers then created and attached a fluorescent tag to the self-assembling peptides. They then imaged the heart to examine where the peptides eventually settled.
The researchers hope that their method can benefit people to survive a heart attack and reduce their risk of future heart disease.
The lead authors of the study are Northwestern’s Nathan C. Gianneschi and UC San Diego’s Karen Christman.
The study is published in Nature Communications.
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