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Updated: Dec 2, 2025
Author Spotlight: Advancing Human Cardiac Anatomy Through Multi-Scale Analysis of Hearts
Published on: June 28, 2024
The Human Explanted Heart Program: A translational bridge for cardiovascular medicine
Hao Zhang1, Anissa Viveiros2, Anish Nikhanj1
1Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada; Mazankowski Alberta Heart Institute, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
Insights
The Human Explanted Heart Program (HELP) provides invaluable human heart tissue for cardiovascular research, overcoming limitations of preclinical models. This resource offers novel insights into heart failure and aids translational research.
Area of Science:
- Cardiovascular Research
- Translational Medicine
- Pathology
Background:
- Preclinical cardiovascular disease models (in vitro and in vivo) often fail to fully replicate human disease complexity.
- Limitations in existing models impede the progression of cardiovascular research.
- Human heart tissue offers a more accurate representation of human cardiovascular pathophysiology.
Purpose of the Study:
- To establish and describe the Human Explanted Heart Program (HELP) for comprehensive human heart disease evaluation.
- To create a valuable biospecimen repository for diverse research applications.
- To highlight the utility of explanted human hearts in translational cardiovascular research.
Main Methods:
- Integration of clinical, tissue, and molecular phenotyping within the HELP.
- Systematic collection and storage of human explanted heart biospecimens.
- Utilizing both diseased and non-failing human explanted hearts for comparative analysis.
- Implementing efficient procurement and bio-preservation techniques for analytical quality.
Main Results:
- Establishment of a comprehensive human heart tissue repository.
- Facilitation of genetic, molecular, cellular, and histological studies using HELP specimens.
- Provision of critical insights into human heart failure pathogenesis.
- Demonstration of the value of human explanted hearts in translational research.
Conclusions:
- The Human Explanted Heart Program (HELP) significantly enhances cardiovascular research by providing a robust model for human heart disease.
- Explanted human heart specimens are invaluable for understanding disease mechanisms and advancing translational research.
- Efficient bio-preservation ensures the high analytical quality of specimens for diverse research applications.
Abstract:
The progression of cardiovascular research is often impeded by the lack of reliable disease models that fully recapitulate the pathogenesis in humans. These limitations apply to both in vitro models such as cell-based cultures and in vivo animal models which invariably are limited to simulate the complexity of cardiovascular disease in humans. Implementing human heart tissue in cardiovascular research complements our research strategy using preclinical models. We established the Human Explanted Heart Program (HELP) which integrates clinical, tissue and molecular phenotyping thereby providing a comprehensive evaluation into human heart disease. Our collection and storage of biospecimens allow them to retain key pathogenic findings while providing novel insights into human heart failure. The use of human non-failing control explanted hearts provides a valuable comparison group for the diseased explanted hearts. Using HELP we have been able to create a tissue repository which have been used for genetic, molecular, cellular, and histological studies. This review describes the process of collection and use of explanted human heart specimens encompassing a spectrum of pediatric and adult heart diseases, while highlighting the role of these invaluable specimens in translational research. Furthermore, we highlight the efficient procurement and bio-preservation approaches ensuring analytical quality of heart specimens acquired in the context of heart donation and transplantation.
