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High-Resolution Endocardial and Epicardial Optical Mapping in a Sheep Model of Stretch-Induced Atrial Fibrillation
Published on: July 29, 2011
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Human-Engineered Atrial Tissue for Studying Atrial Fibrillation.
Julia Krause1,2, Marta Lemme1,2, Ingra Mannhardt1,2
1Department of Experimental Pharmacology and Toxicology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE), Hamburg, Germany.
Methods in Molecular Biology (Clifton, N.J.)
|May 26, 2022
Summary
Researchers developed a 3D engineered heart tissue (EHT) model using human-induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs). This atrial EHT demonstrates enhanced maturation and chamber-specific characteristics for disease modeling and drug testing.
Area of Science:
- Biomedical Engineering
- Cardiovascular Research
- Stem Cell Biology
Background:
- Traditional 2D cell cultures limit cardiomyocyte maturation and physiological relevance.
- Developing functional, chamber-specific 3D heart tissue models is crucial for accurate disease modeling and drug screening.
Purpose of the Study:
- To detail the generation of a 3D fibrin-based engineered heart tissue (EHT) model for the human atrium.
- To demonstrate the enhanced maturation and atrial characteristics of hiPSCs-derived cardiomyocytes in this 3D EHT model.
- To establish a method for assessing contractility parameters of atrial EHTs.
Main Methods:
- Embedding human-induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs)-derived atrial cardiomyocytes in a fibrin hydrogel.
- Culturing the cells in a 24-well format attached to elastic silicone posts for auxotonic contraction.
- Utilizing video-optical monitoring to derive force and contractility parameters from beating atrial EHTs.
Main Results:
- hiPSCs-derived atrial cardiomyocytes showed significantly higher maturation in the 3D EHT format compared to 2D cultures.
- The atrial EHT model exhibited key atrial characteristics, including specific contraction patterns, gene expression, electrophysiology, and pharmacological responses.
- The methodology allows for quantitative assessment of contractility from the beating engineered heart tissue.
Conclusions:
- The fibrin-based atrial EHT model provides a robust 3D platform for studying human atrial function.
- This model facilitates research into chamber-specific mechanisms, drug effects, and cardiovascular disease modeling.
- The developed technique enables detailed analysis of contractility in engineered cardiac tissues.
