Novel Therapeutic Intervention for Myocardial Infarction in Large Animal Model
Friday, December 15, 2017
12:00 PM-2:00 PM
BIOMED Master's Thesis Defense
Title:
Novel Therapeutic Intervention for Myocardial Infarction in Large Animal Model
Speaker:
Maria Mercedes, MS Candidate, School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems, Drexel University
Advisors:
John Gearhart, PhD, Professor, Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania
Fred Allen, PhD, Associate Teaching Professor, School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems, Drexel University
Adrian Shieh, PhD, Associate Teaching Professor, School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems, Drexel University
Abstract:
Heart failure (HF) represents an enormous clinical problem that imposes a significant burden to both
society and survivors. During a myocardial infarction, cardiomyocytes are damaged due to a lack of oxygen to the left ventricle and as a result these cells die. The dead cells are then replaced by fibrotic scar tissue that inhibits the heart from properly pumping blood to the rest of the heart.
The current treatments of HF do not reverse the damage that the left ventricle experiences, and as a result, many people experience recurrent heart failure and sometimes cardiac arrest. The field of reprogramming investigates the process of direct reprogramming of endogenous cardiac fibroblasts to cardiomyocytes as a novel approach to help the heart pump blood properly after a myocardial infarction.
In this project, we used a biodegradable hyaluronic acid (HA) hydrogel to encapsulate Adeno-associated virus (AAV) type 9 that was engineered to deliver a green fluorescent protein (GFP) reporter gene to a pig's heart post-myocardial. Our method represents a unique approach to transfect cardiomyocyte cells in vivo post-myocardial infarction in the pig. This study also demonstrates a cardiac functional improvement with the injection of hydrogel gel, AAV9, and selected transcription factors in the compromised area of the left ventricle.
Contact Information
Ken Barbee
215-895-1335
barbee@drexel.edu