By Kim Tong-hyung
Staff Reporter
A team of domestic scientists announced Thursday that they have transformed human stem cells into smooth muscle cells that control blood pressure and allow the normal functioning of organs.
The discovery could lead to a breakthrough in the treatment of arteriosclerosis, heart attacks and other cardiovascular conditions.
Led by Prof. Kim Jae-ho of Pusan University and Prof. Han Jin of Inje University, the team said they used adult stem cells taken from human adipose ― or fat tissue ― and differentiated them into smooth muscle cells.
The chemical phingosylphosphorylcholine found in blood was found to play a crucial role in converting stem cells into smooth muscle cells.
This is expected to help biotechnologists who had been looking to mass produce smooth muscle found in the middle layers of arteries and veins, possibly resulting in new possibilities for the use of stem cells in tissue engineering and repairing.
``This could offer a great opportunity in bioengineering, as mass production of smooth muscle cells crucial to the treatment of cardiovascular conditions has not been possible so far," Kim said.
``The cultivation of smooth muscle cells could also provide more clues as to the causes of heart-related diseases. And since the cells can be derived from the fat tissue of the patients themselves, we risk no ethical problems or problems related to the immune system.''
The study will be published in the Aug. 8 edition of ``Circulation Research,'' a peer-reviewed journal.