Prof. BAN Kiwon (潘基沅)

• Cardiovascular regeneration with human pluripotent stem cells
• Generation of structurally and functionally mature cardiomyocytes derived from human pluripotent stem cells
• Development of optimal strategies for transplanting human cardiomyocytes for cardiac regeneration
• Understanding the pathophysiology of human heart disease

Overview

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the worldwide with the majority of fatalities due to coronary artery disease and correlating heart failure. Due to limited therapeutic options for severe myocardial infarction and advanced heart failure, stem cell-based therapy has emerged as a promising therapeutic option. Hence, the ultimate goal of our research group is to develop novel therapeutic applications for stem cell based cardiac regeneration using the cells differentiated from human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) including both embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs).

In particular, we have been focused on studying cardiomyocytes (= Heart muscle cells) derived from (hPSCs) as they are regarded as one of the most promising sources for cardiac repair. Cardiomyocytes differentiated from hPSCs share many similar characteristics with human primary cardiomyocytes. They have unquestioned cardiomyogenic potential, and have a clear cardiac phenotype, cardiac-type electrophysiologic characteristics, and expression of expected genes and proteins. Several recent studies have shown that transplantation of these cardiomyocytes into rodent models helped preserve cardiac function.

Figure 1. Cardiomyocytes derived from pluripotent stem cells. A) Morphology of differentiated cardiomyocytes. B) Immunocytochemistry images on differentiated cardiomyocytes. C) Electrophysiological results of differentiated cardiomyocytes. D) Calcium imaging of differentiated cardiomyocytes.

To achieve this aim, we have been studying a wide variety of research areas including but not limited to cardiovascular physiology, pathophysiology, pharmacology, tissue engineering, biomaterials, and nanoscience.

Figure 2. A) One example strategy for improving the retention of implanted stem cell derived cardiomyocytes in heart through injectable self-assembling biomaterials. B) Engraftment of injected cardiomyocytes in hearts with or without biomaterials (4 & 14 weeks after injections).

We have ongoing research efforts aimed at:

1. Generation of universal protocol that can efficiently produce large scale of CM derived from human PSCs
2. Production of homogeneous population of functionally and structurally mature hPSC-derived cardiomyocytes
3. Development of optimal strategies to increase the retention of transplanted human cardiomyocytes in the diseased heart
4. Studying the pathophysiological mechanisms of human cardiac disease through hPSC derived cardiomyocytes