Patrick C.H. Hsieh, Visiting Research Fellow and Professor, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan

Topic: Heart Regeneration—Passion and Mission

Abstract: Although the field of cardiac stem cell therapy has significantly advanced over the past years, the premise of regenerating or replacing diseased human myocardium with functional tissue remains unsatisfied. Our research aims to promote heart regeneration and rejuvenation through engineering the intramyocardial microenvironment for endogenous stem cells to reactivate, proliferate, differentiate and repopulate the diseased myocardium. Using a genetic fate-mapping approach in mice, we have found that endogenous stem cells contribute to ~15% of new cardiomyocytes in the peri-infarct within 7-10 days after myocardial infarction in mice (Hsieh et al. Nat Med., 2007; Shueh et al. EMBO Mol Med., 2014; Wu et al. Circ Res., 2015), showing potential for regeneration by the heart itself. We thus carry out transgenic mice to identify the source of this endogenous stem cell pool, and develop novel strategies aiming to create a favorable microenvironment to augment this nature power for spontaneous heart regeneration (Lin et al. Sci Transl Med., 2012) and to facilitate targeted delivery of therapeutics enhancing cardiovascular repair or regeneration (Lin et al. Circulation, 2010; Tang et al. ACS Nano, 2012; Cheng et al. Adv Healthc Mat., 2016; Wu et al. Sci Transl Med., 2016). Our team has employed an approach bringing investigators from a broad variety of backgrounds, including stem cell biology and biochemistry, biophysics and biomechanics, materials science, controlled drug/gene delivery and translational and clinical medicine. This combination has allowed us to work together and interact in a way traditionally not available at an individual lab or program.