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Updated: Dec 8, 2025
Generation, High-Throughput Screening, and Biobanking of Human-Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Cardiac Spheroids
Published on: March 10, 2023
Extracellular Vesicles in Cardiac Regeneration: Potential Applications for Tissues-on-a-Chip
Karl T Wagner1, Trevor R Nash2, Bohao Liu2
1Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada; Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Abstract:
Strategies to regenerate cardiac tissue postinjury are limited and heart transplantation remains the only 'cure' for a failing heart. Extracellular vesicles (EVs), membrane-bound cell secretions important in intercellular signaling, have been shown to play a crucial role in regulating heart function. A mechanistic understanding of the role of EVs in the heart remains elusive due to the challenges in studying the native human heart. Tissue-on-a-chip platforms, comprising functional, physiologically relevant human tissue models, are an emerging technology that has yet to be fully applied to the study of EVs. In this review, we summarize recent advances in cardiac tissue-on-a-chip (CTC) platforms and discuss how they are uniquely situated to advance our understanding of EVs in cardiac disease and regeneration.
