Heart & Lung Diseases
Our researchers are harnessing the regenerative capacity of cardiac stem cells to reverse the effects of heart attacks and developing cell and gene therapies to regenerate damaged lungs.
Overview
Heart and lung diseases are among the leading causes of illness and death worldwide, and damage to these vital organs can be difficult-to-impossible to reverse. After a heart attack, for example, injured heart muscle is largely replaced by scar tissue, limiting the heart’s ability to pump blood and often resulting in heart failure. In the lungs, disease, infection and environmental exposuresA wide range of external and internal factors that impact human health. External exposures include chemical pollutants, radiation, diet and social interactions. Internal exposures involve stress, metabolism and the microbiome. Researchers study the exposome, which encompasses all exposures throughout life, to understand disease risk.environmental exposuresA wide range of external and internal factors that impact human health. External exposures include chemical pollutants, radiation, diet and social interactions. Internal exposures involve stress, metabolism and the microbiome. Researchers study the exposome, which encompasses all exposures throughout life, to understand disease risk. can cause lasting damage to the cells and structures needed for healthy breathing.
UCLA researchers are using stem cellsCells that have the ability to differentiate into multiple types of cells and make an unlimited number of copies of themselves.stem cellsCells that have the ability to differentiate into multiple types of cells and make an unlimited number of copies of themselves. to understand how the heart and lungs develop, what disrupts their normal function and how these organs respond to injury and disease. By uncovering these genetic, cellular, metabolic and immune processes, our scientists are identifying new opportunities to prevent or limit damage, promote repair and restore function.
This work includes developing stem cell-derived models that recreate aspects of human heart and lung biology in the laboratory, giving researchers new ways to study heart failure, congenital heart disease, heart valve disorders, cystic fibrosisExcessive scarring within an organ due to disrupted healing. It can lead to organ dysfunction and is associated with conditions like chronic kidney disease, liver cirrhosis and heart failure.fibrosisExcessive scarring within an organ due to disrupted healing. It can lead to organ dysfunction and is associated with conditions like chronic kidney disease, liver cirrhosis and heart failure., pulmonary fibrosis and lung cancer and to test potential therapies.
Together, these efforts are informing new cell therapies, gene therapies, drugs and immunotherapies designed to address both the causes and consequences of heart and lung disease.
Our Goals
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The challenge: The adult heart has a limited ability to regenerate after injury. Following a heart attack, damaged heart muscle can be replaced by scar tissue, weakening the heart and increasing the risk of heart failure.
Our researchers’ solutions:
- Engineering new drug and stem cell-based therapies that enhance tissue repair, reverse tissue damage and extend the lives of patients after heart attacks
- Conducting phase 1 clinical trials for a first-of-its-kind tissue repair drug designed to promote heart tissue regeneration after heart attacks
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The challenge: Disruptions to the precise processes that govern healthy heart formation can lead to congenital heart defects and heart valve disorders, but exactly how these disruptions affect the developing heart is not yet fully understood.
Our researchers’ solutions:
- Investigating how healthy heart valves form and developing new, less-invasive treatments for heart valve disorders caused by congenital defects, aging or disease
- Examining how high blood sugar levels in diabetic pregnancy cause congenital heart disease and developing targeted treatments to help mothers with diabetes deliver healthy babies
- Investigating the role non-coding RNAs play in neonatal heart formation and the development of congenital heart defects in order to identify potential targets for prevention or treatment
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The challenge: Lung cancers can resist treatment by exploiting both the immune system and the normal processes that maintain and repair the airways. Understanding exactly how tumors exploit these systems remains a major challenge in developing more effective treatments.
Our researchers’ solutions:
- Enhancing the efficacy of treatments for advanced-stage lung cancer by combining immunotherapyA type of treatment that uses the body's own immune system to fight cancer, infections and other diseases. This approach has revolutionized cancer care and is also being applied in experimental treatments for HIV, lupus and other conditions.immunotherapyA type of treatment that uses the body's own immune system to fight cancer, infections and other diseases. This approach has revolutionized cancer care and is also being applied in experimental treatments for HIV, lupus and other conditions. drugs with direct injections of genetically modified, patient-specificRefers to a therapeutic product that is specifically formulated for or customized to a particular patient. In patient-specific cell therapies, a patient's cells are either genetically engineered, expanded or reprogrammed and differentiated to produce cells that same patient needs for treatment.patient-specificRefers to a therapeutic product that is specifically formulated for or customized to a particular patient. In patient-specific cell therapies, a patient's cells are either genetically engineered, expanded or reprogrammed and differentiated to produce cells that same patient needs for treatment. immune cells into tumors
- Devising new lung cancer treatment and prevention strategies by studying how airway basal stem cellsCells that have the ability to differentiate into multiple types of cells and make an unlimited number of copies of themselves.stem cellsCells that have the ability to differentiate into multiple types of cells and make an unlimited number of copies of themselves. balance lung tissue repair and maintenance
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The challenge: Diseases such as cystic fibrosisExcessive scarring within an organ due to disrupted healing. It can lead to organ dysfunction and is associated with conditions like chronic kidney disease, liver cirrhosis and heart failure.fibrosisExcessive scarring within an organ due to disrupted healing. It can lead to organ dysfunction and is associated with conditions like chronic kidney disease, liver cirrhosis and heart failure. and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis can progressively damage the airways and lung tissue, and current treatments cannot fully prevent or reverse that damage.
Our researchers’ solutions:
- Developing a gene therapyA technique that uses a gene or gene(s) to prevent, treat or cure a disease or disorder. Most gene therapies work by adding a healthy version of a gene to replace one that is defective or missing into the genome of particular cells. Some of these therapies use viral vectors to deliver genes into target cells.gene therapyA technique that uses a gene or gene(s) to prevent, treat or cure a disease or disorder. Most gene therapies work by adding a healthy version of a gene to replace one that is defective or missing into the genome of particular cells. Some of these therapies use viral vectors to deliver genes into target cells. for cystic fibrosis that uses nanotechnology to reach disease-affected airway stem cellsCells that have the ability to differentiate into multiple types of cells and make an unlimited number of copies of themselves.stem cellsCells that have the ability to differentiate into multiple types of cells and make an unlimited number of copies of themselves. without injuring the lungs
- Using stem cell-derived 3D lung organoid3D tissue grown from stem cells to replicate aspects of the structure and function of an organ. By modeling how multiple types of cells interact in biologically-relevant structures, these models help researchers understand how human organs develop, age and respond to disease in more detail than 2D cultures. organoid3D tissue grown from stem cells to replicate aspects of the structure and function of an organ. By modeling how multiple types of cells interact in biologically-relevant structures, these models help researchers understand how human organs develop, age and respond to disease in more detail than 2D cultures. models to study complex lung diseases such as idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and identify new therapies
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The challenge: The lungs are particularly vulnerable to environmental damage from tobacco smoke, pollutants and other exposures, which can injure the stem cellsCells that have the ability to differentiate into multiple types of cells and make an unlimited number of copies of themselves.stem cellsCells that have the ability to differentiate into multiple types of cells and make an unlimited number of copies of themselves. responsible for maintaining the airways and contribute to cancer, respiratory disease and vulnerability to infection.
Our researchers’ solutions:
- Examining how tobacco smoke and other environmental exposuresA wide range of external and internal factors that impact human health. External exposures include chemical pollutants, radiation, diet and social interactions. Internal exposures involve stress, metabolism and the microbiome. Researchers study the exposome, which encompasses all exposures throughout life, to understand disease risk.environmental exposuresA wide range of external and internal factors that impact human health. External exposures include chemical pollutants, radiation, diet and social interactions. Internal exposures involve stress, metabolism and the microbiome. Researchers study the exposome, which encompasses all exposures throughout life, to understand disease risk. injure airway stem cells to identify ways to prevent or reduce the resulting damage that can lead to lung cancer, breathing problems or increased severity of infections like COVID-19
Growing ‘mini lung’ organoids for major insights
UCLA researchers are building increasingly sophisticated stem cell-derived models of human lungs to more faithfully recreate the cells, structures and interactions found in the body. These miniature models are giving scientists new ways to investigate how diseases and environmental exposures affect the lungs, and to uncover potential strategies for prevention and treatment.
Finding treatments for pulmonary fibrosis
Researchers are using lung organoids to recreate the scarring seen in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and identify promising therapeutic approaches.
Uncovering congenital lung disorders
Lung organoids with blood vessel systems are helping scientists reveal how genetic mutations disrupt lung development and cause rare congenital diseases.
Seeking therapies for deadly hantaviruses
Human organoids are enabling researchers to study how hantaviruses infect the lungs and identify compounds that could prevent infection.
Understanding firefighters’ cancer risk
Researchers are exposing human lung organoids to contaminants collected from firefighters’ protective gear to investigate how occupational exposures may damage lung cells and contribute to cancer risk.
Research Highlights
Repairing heart tissue
A first-of-its-kind tissue repair drug developed by UCLA scientists will soon enter Phase 1 clinical trials.
Helping the heart heal
UCLA researchers engineer an experimental, single-dose drug that reduces scar tissue formation and improves cardiac function after heart attacks, preventing heart failure in mice.
The origins of heart arrhythmias
Center researchers find that fibroblasts that reside in scar tissue of an injured heart play a direct role in life-threatening arrhythmias.
Cataloging airway cell types in cystic fibrosis
Center researchers develop a first-of-its-kind molecular catalog of cells in the lungs of people with cystic fibrosis, illustrating how the disease changes the cellular makeup of the airways.
Why some hearts scar more than others
UCLA scientists identify a protein that plays a critical role in regulating the amount of scar tissue in the heart, explaining why some people suffer more extensive scarring than others after a heart attack.
A key player in heart valve formation
Center researchers identify the origin of an immune cell that is essential to the formation of healthy heart valves, paving the way for treatments for heart valve disorders caused by congenital defects, aging or disease.
How diabetes in pregnancy affects baby’s heart
UCLA scientists find that high glucose levels prevent heart cells from maturing normally, explaining why babies born to women with diabetes are more likely to develop congenital heart disease.
Helping premature babies’ lungs heal
UCLA researchers identify a molecular defect that disrupts lung blood vessel growth in premature infants and show that a targeted mRNA therapy can restore healthy lung development in mice.
