Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 6, 2026
Preclinical Cardiac Electrophysiology Assessment by Dual Voltage and Calcium Optical Mapping of Human Organotypic Cardiac Slices
Published on: June 16, 2020
Cardiac slices as a predictive tool for arrhythmogenic potential of drugs and chemicals
Thomas Meyer1, Katharina Stuerz, Elke Guenther
1Multi Channel Systems MCS GmbH, Aspenhaustr. 21, 72770 Reutlingen, Germany. meyer@multichannelsystems.com
Importance Of The Field:
cardiac arrhythmia represents one of the primary safety pharmacological concerns in drug development. The most prominent example is drug induced ventricular tachycardia of the Torsade des Pointes type. The mechanism how this type of arrhythmia develops is a complex multi-cellular phenomenon. It can only be insufficiently reflected by cellular or molecular assays. However, organ models - such as Langendorff hearts - or in vivo experiments are expensive and time consuming and not suitable for assays requiring an increased throughput.
Areas Covered In This Review:
here, we describe and review an assay bridging the gap between cardiomyocyte based assays and organ based systems - cardiac slices. This assay is reviewed in direct comparison with established safety pharmacological assays.
What The Reader Will Gain:
while slices have played an important role in brain research for > 2 decades, cardiac slices are experiencing a renaissance due to the novel challenges in safety pharmacology just in the last few years. Cardiac slices can be cultured and recorded over several days. It is possible to access electrophysiological data with a high number of electrodes - up to 256 electrodes - embedded in the surface of a microelectrode array.
Take Home Message:
cardiac slices close the gap between cellular and organ based assays in cardiac safety pharmacology. The tissue properties of a functional cardiac syncytium are more accurately reflected by a slice rather than a single cell.
Insights
Cardiac slices offer a novel assay for drug-induced arrhythmia, bridging the gap between cell and organ models. This method provides a more accurate reflection of cardiac tissue function for safety pharmacology screening.
Area of Science:
- Cardiovascular Pharmacology
- Drug Safety Assessment
- Tissue Engineering
Background:
- Cardiac arrhythmia, particularly Torsade des Pointes, is a major safety concern in drug development.
- Current cellular assays inadequately model complex multicellular arrhythmogenic mechanisms.
- Organ-based models are costly and lack throughput for early-stage screening.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review and describe cardiac slice assays as a bridge between cellular and organ-based safety pharmacology.
- To compare cardiac slices with established safety pharmacological assays.
- To highlight the utility of cardiac slices in addressing challenges in drug-induced arrhythmia detection.
Main Methods:
- Description and review of the cardiac slice assay methodology.
- Comparison of cardiac slices with existing in vitro and in vivo safety pharmacology models.
- Utilizing microelectrode arrays with up to 256 electrodes for electrophysiological recordings.
Main Results:
- Cardiac slices, established in brain research, are gaining traction in cardiac safety pharmacology.
- Cardiac slices can be cultured and recorded over multiple days.
- High-density electrode arrays enable detailed electrophysiological data acquisition.
Conclusions:
- Cardiac slices effectively bridge the gap between cellular and organ-based assays in cardiac safety pharmacology.
- This assay more accurately reflects the functional properties of a cardiac syncytium compared to single-cell assays.
- Cardiac slices offer a promising, higher-throughput alternative for assessing drug-induced arrhythmia risk.
