Stem cell homing: Rostock research in cardiac stem cell therapy awarded

The German Society for Thoracic, Cardiac and Vascular Surgery (DGTHG) honoured two young physicians from Rostock with prizes for their scientific work on stem cell homing: Dr. Christian Klopsch received the Science Award of the Ulrich-Karsten-Foundation for his work in which he examined, whether an injection of Erythropoetin (also known as doping substance EPO) might stimulate bone marrow stem cells to transmigrate into an infarcted heart. Dr. Peter Donndorf got the Young Investigator Award of the DGTHG for his doctoral thesis in which he dealt more basically with the question which enzymes and signal molecules might influence the migration of stem cells to an inflammatory changed tissue.

left to right: Dr. Gerhard Fempell (from Ulrich-Karsten Foundation),
Dr. Peter Donndorf, Dr. Christian Klopsch
Foto: Thomas Merz (www.merz-foto.de)

The Science Award of the Ulrich-Karsten-Foundation is award every two years to young scientists who have already presented excellent scientific works in the area of cardiovascular diseases and will put further efforts in this specific field. The DGHTG Young Investigator Award rewards annually experimental and clinically relevant dissertations in the field of thorax, heart and vascular surgery. Both prizes were conferred yesterday during the opening ceremony of the annual conference of the DGHTG in Stuttgart.

In fact, autologous stem cells can help in cardiac recovery after myocardial infarction. Present clinical studies on this therapy use autologous stem cells taken from the patient's bone marrow, in most cases from the iliac crest. These stem cells are transplanted to the injured cardiac tissue, either directly by injection or via intravascular catheter technique. It would be more comfortable for the patients, if there was a possibility stimulating the bone marrow stem cells to migrate into the heart, when they are needed for regeneration processes. Dr. Christian Klopsch has shown in rats that after an injection of EPO an increasing number of stem cells can be determined in the infarcted heart. These stem cells might have caused a clear improvement of the heart function, besides the creation of new tissue observed inhere. Long term monitoring as well as analysis of different organs from the animals showed no indication of adverse side effects, e.g. thromboses.

Dr. Peter Donndorf observed by intravital microscopy the behaviour of bone marrow stem cells after injection in the vascular system of mice. Under different conditions he focussed on the enzyme eNOS (endothelial nitric oxide synthase). He could show that this enzyme plays a special role in the interaction of stem cells with the cells of the vascular wall. It also has a determining influence on the successful migration of stem cells in inflammatory changed tissue.

Both physicians work at the Clinic for Cardiac Surgery at the University of Rostock. 26-year-old Christian Klopsch received his MD in January and is currently qualifying as a specialist. Peter Donndorf (28) already did his doctorate in 2009 and is resident at the Department of Cardiac Surgery. He also acts as an investigator in clinical studies. The director of the Department of Cardiac Surgery, Prof. Dr. Gustav Steinhoff, is proud of his young academics: “Last year one of our physicians already won the DGHTG Young Investigator Award. This demonstrates that Rostock is on top in Germany´s cardiac stem cell research.”

2010-02-05

Prof. Dr. Gustav Steinhoff interviewed by “The Hindu” (Hyderabad, India)

On Feb 4th, Prof Steinhoff gave a lecture on cardiac stem cell therapy at the international fair BioAsia in Hyderabad (India). Journalists from the daily paper “The Hindu” wanted to know more about the Rostock experience on stem cell therapy: Read the complete interview here (pdf, 260 kb).

2009-10-29 – Press release

First Phase III trial on intramyocardial adult stem cell therapy starts in Germany

German heart centers in Rostock, Berlin and Hannover have commenced together with the biotech company Miltenyi-Biotec a randomized, double-blinded multicenter trial on the intramyocardial transplantation of CD133 purified autologous bone-marrow stem cells. The first patient has been treated successfully in Rostock and discharged from the hospital today was reported by Prof. Steinhoff, principal investigator of the clinical study. The study aiming at european medicinal product authorization will last two years and include 142 patients undergoing bypass surgery because of heart failure.

www.clinicaltrials.gov (identifier: NCT00950274)

Contact:
Prof. Dr. med. Gustav Steinhoff
Dirctor of the
Clinic and Policlinic for Cardiac Surgery, University of Rostock
Phone +49 (0)381 - 4 94 61 00
gustav.steinhoff@med.uni-rostock.de

2009-10-26 — Press release

New therapies for congenital heart diseases: Rostock scientist won European “young investigators award”

The European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery (EACTS) awarded the heart surgeon Dr. Can Yerebakan the distinction for developing an animal model for researching new regenerative stem cell therapies with the goal of curing congenital diseases of the right heart ventricle. The EACTS is the largest association of cardiac and thoracic surgeons in Europe. The „young investigator's award“ for cardiac surgery is a prize for the best research project by a junior scientist and was awarded last week at the EACTS annual meeting in Vienna (Austria).

Dr. Yerebakan (32) is resident in the Department of Cardiac Surgery at the University of Rostock in Rostock (Germany). Within the realm of his post-doctorate studies he works on improving therapies for the future treatment of congenital cardiac pathologies. An important step towards new therapies are animal experiments with specific animal models that mimic cardiac diseases. Dr. Yerebakan has developed a novel sheep model in order to study the short- and long-term transformation of activity in the right ventricle. He investigates different therapeutical approaches for widespread congenital heart defects including treatment with stem cells extracted from the umbilical cord.

Contact:
Dr. med. Can Yerebakan
Clinic and Policlinic for Cardiac Surgery, University of Rostock
Phone +49 (0)381 - 4 94 61 01
can.yerebakan@med.uni-rostock.de

Prof. Dr. med. Gustav Steinhoff
Dirctor of the
Clinic and Policlinic for Cardiac Surgery, University of Rostock
Phone +49 (0)381 - 4 94 61 00
gustav.steinhoff@med.uni-rostock.de