Creation of human cardiac cell sheets using pluripotent stem cells

Area of Science:

• Regenerative Medicine
• Stem Cell Biology
• Cardiovascular Research

Background:

• Previous research created cardiac tissue using rat cell sheets.
• The potential of human cardiac cell sheets for tissue engineering remained unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a method for expanding and differentiating human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) into cardiomyocytes for cardiac tissue engineering.
• To evaluate the functional properties of hiPSC-derived cardiac cell sheets.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a bioreactor system for large-scale expansion and cardiac differentiation of hiPSCs.
• Cultured differentiated cardiomyocytes on temperature-responsive dishes to form cell sheets.
• Assessed cell characteristics, spontaneous beating, and electrical coupling between overlaid cell sheets.

Main Results:

• Bioreactor culture yielded approximately 8×10(7) cells/100 ml with 80% cardiac troponin T positivity after 14 days.
• Detached hiPSC-derived cardiac cell sheets exhibited spontaneous and synchronous beating.
• Observed extracellular action potential propagation between partially overlaid cardiac cell sheets.

Conclusions:

• hiPSC-derived cardiac cell sheets possess functional properties suitable for constructing thickened cardiac tissue.
• This approach offers a promising avenue for cardiac regenerative medicine.
• Further research can explore the integration and vascularization of these engineered tissues.