http://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. Since the heart is such a delicate and critical organ, clinicians usually opt not to intervene with the dead cells that remain after a heart attack or cardiac disease. "But we think that all heart attacks deserve some kind of treatment because it puts so much stress on the rest of the heart," said Thomas Webster, professor and chair of the Department of Chemical Engineering. Even a square centimeter of dead heart tissue can put significant strain on the rest of the heart, which has to pick up the slack, he said. http://phys.org/news287998232.html Nanotechnology Fri, 17 May 2013 08:50:05 EST news287998232 A new study by researchers at UCLA suggests that the elasticity of the physical matrix used for growing heart muscle cells outside of the body may be critical to the success of cardiac tissue engineering. The results were published in the journal Science and Technology of Advanced Materials this week. http://phys.org/news285229121.html Chemistry Mon, 15 Apr 2013 07:30:03 EST news285229121 Using recent advances in marine biomechanics, materials science, and tissue engineering, a team of researchers at Harvard University and the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have turned inanimate silicone and living cardiac muscle cells into a freely swimming "jellyfish." http://phys.org/news262177716.html Biology Sun, 22 Jul 2012 13:00:08 EST news262177716 (PhysOrg.com) -- Damaged human heart muscle cannot be regenerated. Scar tissue grows in place of the damaged muscle cells. Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research in Bad Nauheim are seeking to restore complete cardiac function with the help of artificial cardiac tissue. They have succeeded in loading cardiac muscle cells onto a three-dimensional scaffold, created using the silk produced by a tropical silkworm. http://phys.org/news247126548.html Chemistry Mon, 30 Jan 2012 06:15:59 EST news247126548 Damaged heart tissue is not known for having much inherent capacity for repair. But now, scientists are closing in on signals that may be able to coax the heart into producing replacement cardiac muscle cells. Using a zebrafish model system, researchers have identified a family of molecules that can stimulate stem cells to develop into beating heart muscle cells. The research, published by Cell Press in the December 21st issue of the journal Chemistry & Biology, may pave the way towards new therapeutic approaches for cardiac regeneration and repair. http://phys.org/news243777618.html Chemistry Thu, 22 Dec 2011 12:01:10 EST news243777618 Tobias Brugmann and his colleagues from the University of Bonn's Institute of Physiology I used a so-called "channelrhodopsin" for their experiments, which is a type of light sensor. At the same time, it can act as an ion channel in the cell membrane. When stimulated with blue light, this channel opens, and positive ions flow into the cell. This causes a change in the cell membrane's pressure, which stimulates cardiac muscle cells to contract. http://phys.org/news205406759.html Medicine & Health Mon, 04 Oct 2010 10:50:02 EST news205406759 A UCSF study for the treatment of heart failure after heart attack found that the extract derived from bone marrow cells is as effective as therapy using bone marrow stem cells for improving cardiac function, decreasing the formation of scar tissue and improving cardiac pumping capacity after heart attack. http://phys.org/news165512730.html Medicine & Health Mon, 29 Jun 2009 17:00:01 EST news165512730 (PhysOrg.com) -- Statins, used widely to treat elevated cholesterol, have been shown to prevent progression of coronary narrowing and to have other beneficial effects on the heart, such as reducing inflammation, that are independent of cholesterol. http://phys.org/news154630899.html Medicine & Health Mon, 23 Feb 2009 17:02:11 EST news154630899 Engineers at Purdue and Stanford universities have created stretchable electrodes to study how cardiac muscle cells, neurons and other cells react to mechanical stresses from heart attacks, traumatic brain injuries and other diseases. http://phys.org/news151852545.html Technology Thu, 22 Jan 2009 13:16:29 EST news151852545 When it is head versus heart, the heart comes first. The heart is the first organ to develop and is critical in supplying blood to the rest of the body. Yet, little is known about the complex processes that regulate the heartbeat. http://phys.org/news151763491.html Medicine & Health Wed, 21 Jan 2009 12:32:30 EST news151763491