Do stem cells “rescue” cardiomyocytes by sending energy through nanotubes? Dr. Bruce Gao was awarded the NIH R01, given for health-related research and development, for his proposal “Microfabricated coculture model: Myocyte rescue by TNT-transferred mitochondria.” According to Dr. Gao, previous study of stem-cell therapy for heart diseases focused on cardiogenic differentiation—how to induce stem cells to transdifferentiate into contracting cardiomyocytes.
His research group recently discovered unidirectional mitochondrial transfer, a novel biological process mediated by heterotypic nanotube connections. This suggests that the enhancement of cardiomyocyte function seen after stem-cell injection in vivo may be due to a bioenergetic stimulus provided by mitochondrial transfer.
Dr. Gao said, “Our first goal is to engineer through microfabrication a microniche, which will allow us to systematically study the mechanisms of nanotube-mediated mitochondrial transfer. Then, we will explore whether this transfer can be achieved in vivo. If successful, this project will lead to a novel targeting therapy at the cellular level.”
