Native cardiac environment and its impact on engineering cardiac tissue.

Area of Science:

• Cardiovascular Biology
• Biomaterials Science
• Stem Cell Biology

Background:

• Human pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (hPSC-CMs) exhibit an immature, fetal-like phenotype compared to adult human cardiomyocytes.
• This immaturity limits their utility in accurately modeling adult cardiac conditions and diseases.
• The cardiac extracellular matrix (ECM) undergoes dynamic changes during development, influencing cardiomyocyte maturation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the developmental progression of the cardiac ECM during embryogenesis.
• To describe the characteristics of the adult human cardiac ECM.
• To explore the use of natural and synthetic biomaterials for enhancing hPSC-CM maturation in cardiac tissue engineering.

Main Methods:

• Review of existing literature on cardiac ECM development and composition.
• Analysis of studies utilizing biomaterials for cardiac tissue engineering with hPSC-CMs.
• Synthesis of information regarding ECM assembly during embryonic and adult heart development.

Main Results:

• The cardiac ECM progressively assembles matrix proteins during cardiomyocyte maturation from embryonic to adult stages.
• Understanding ECM dynamics provides insights into strategies for in vitro hPSC-CM maturation.
• Biomaterials offer promising avenues for mimicking native ECM environments to promote hPSC-CM development.

Conclusions:

• Maturation of hPSC-CMs is crucial for their accurate representation of adult cardiac physiology and disease.
• Mimicking the developmental stages of the cardiac ECM is a key strategy for achieving mature hPSC-CMs in vitro.
• Biomaterial-based cardiac tissue engineering holds potential for generating functional cardiac tissues using hPSC-CMs.