A St. Paul-based gene editing company is partnering with Mayo Clinic to research methods of growing human cardiac cells inside pigs to treat children with potentially fatal heart defects.
Recombinetics announced the partnership on Thursday with Mayo, and a spinoff company, ReGen Theranostics, which develops human stem cell lines for transplant.
The partnership initially wants to use the stem cells to grow cardiomyocytes, the cells that form heart muscle, that can be safely implanted in children and delay their need for donor heart transplants. But Tammy Lee, Recombinetics' chief executive and president, said this could be just the first step in the use of specially modified pigs to grow human cells, tissues and maybe even whole organs that could be safe for transplant and wouldn't be rejected by recipients' immune systems.
"The ability to grow human cells in the pig that don't have the rejection issues?" she said. "This is a first-of-its-kind initiative."
Lee called the genetically modified pigs her company's "oinkubators," which are needed to grow human cells in sufficient quantity for transplant. The first step is proving the stem cells can safely produce enough human cardiac cells inside pigs. Federal approval for human clinical trials of the pig-produced cells would follow.
Recombinetics, which recently raised $34 million in private research funding, has reported success in the use of gene editing for agricultural ventures. Examples include growing dairy cattle without horns, or that can withstand heat, and pigs that don't require castration as part of the usual process in pork production.
The company also worked with Mayo to create pigs as human models of dilated cardiomyopathy disease. These pigs are used by researchers to study improved therapies for the disease, which occurs when the left ventricle of the heart is enlarged and weakened and can't pump blood effectively.
Researchers globally have studied "exotransplantation," which refers to the growth of human cells in animals for transplant, as well as "xenotransplantation," which refers to the use of animal tissues and organs themselves for transplant.
