Extracellular vesicles (EVs), once thought to be the trash bags of the cellular world, have been found to play a key role in helping heart cells survive a heart attack – a discovery that will expand research into the biological role of molecules once thought insignificant.
Originally, the vesicles were seen as the way cells disposed of used-up or unwanted molecules, bagging them in vesicles and sending them out into the bloodstream to eventually be excreted.
Then EVs were discovered to be ferrying biochemical signals from transmitting cells to receivers, in some cases spreading disease and in others helping to combat it.
Now Harvard researchers have found these cells play a key role in helping heart cells survive a heart attack.
A heart attack happens when blood flow to the heart is blocked, killing or damaging heart cells. However, emergency treatment for heart attacks often causes more damage as the heart is shocked by the sudden influx of calcium and other chemicals, suffers stress overload, and other adverse reactions.
The Harvard scientists put heart cells on a chip laden with sensors, then induced a heart attack, introduced EVs from vascular tissue, and watched EVs come to the rescue.
Although the diameter of EVs is about one five-hundredth that of human hair, they contain as many as 2,000 proteins that help cells respirate, produce energy, and manage biochemical stress. EVs from heart tissue were found to be particularly attuned to the needs of a malfunctioning heart, helping maintain the cells’ ability to function and minimize the shock from emergency treatments until the danger eased.
TRENDPOST: The discovery that extracellular vesicles can have therapeutic effects expands research into these protein bombs that likely will lead to new or enhanced treatments for injury and disease that amplify the body’s own response mechanisms.
