SDSU Heart Institute researchers successfully rejuvenated
damaged and aged heart tissue with modified stem cells. A cross
section of a newley transplanted cardiac stem cell. San Diego
State University’s Heart Institute has made a breakthrough
discovery that could one day lead to new treatments for heart-
failure patients. SDSU researchers successfully rejuvenated
damaged and aged heart tissue of older heart-failure patients
with scientifically modified stem cells. “Since patients with
heart failure are normally elderly, their cardiac stem cells
aren’t very healthy,” said Sadia Mohsin, one of the study's
authors and a post-doctoral research scholar at SDSU’s Heart
Institute. “We modified these biopsied stem cells and made them
healthier. It is like turning back the clock so these cells can
thrive again.” Modifying Stem cells Modified human stem cells
helps the signaling and structure of the heart cells, which were
biopsied from elderly patients. Researchers modified the stem
cells in the laboratory with PIM-1,