This toolbox could facilitate the creation of autologous heart cells in a laboratory (Representational image)
Heart cells created using this toolbox can have functions similar to native heart cells and can be used to regenerate damaged heart tissue.
A research team from the Indian Institute technology Guwahati has developed a ‘recombinant protein toolbox’ consisting of six specific proteins that can be used to convert healthy skin cells or any somatic cells from an adult human body into heart cells, specifically cardiomyocytes . Heart cells created using this toolbox can have functions similar to native heart cells and can be used to regenerate damaged heart tissue. Importantly, this toolbox may facilitate the creation of autologous heart cells in the laboratory.
The research is led by Dr. Rajkumar P. Thummar, Assistant Professor, Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, along with his research scholar, Mr. Krishna Kumar Haridaspavalan.
IIT Guwahati team has produced cell-permanent recombinant protein that can convert skin cells into heart cells. Recombinant protein is a desired protein produced by host cells engineered in a laboratory using recombinant DNA technology. By exposing skin cells to these proteins, IIT Guwahati researchers can ‘reprogram’ the cells and make them have the characteristics of heart cells. This process can be seen as ‘re-wiring’ the genetic program of skin cells, more like heart cells.
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The team, from the Central Research Laboratory at SDM College of Medical Sciences and Hospital in Dharwad, Karnataka, to validate the biological activity of the recombinant fusion protein, Dr. Collaborated with Vishwas Kavieshwar.
Dr. Rajkumar P. Thummar, Assistant Professor, Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, IIT Guwahati, said, “Recombinant protein-based cellular reprogramming is a promising alternative and the safest method among other available non-integration approaches. As these proteins do not modify or alter the genome of cells, cells generated using this reprogramming approach have a high cell therapeutic value. Our six research publications in various journals address many of the challenges associated with heterologous production of these recombinant proteins.
According to Mr. Krishna Kumar Haridaspavalan, Research Scholar, IIT Guwahati and first author of the paper published by the team, “The recombinant proteins can be delivered to the target sites without the need for any harmful reagents. In addition to cardiac repair, these proteins can be studied for their role as suppressors or promoters of tumor growth in various cancers.
The researchers recently shared their results on the development of cell- and nucleus-penetrating versions of six cardiac reprogramming transcription factors in several international peer-reviewed journals, including Molecular Biotechnology, Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, Bioprocess and Biosystems Engineering, Current Research in Biotechnology Are. , Healthcare Research and Related Technologies Proceedings from NERC 2022, Scientific Reports and Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology.
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