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Biomimetic Cardiac Tissue Models for In Vitro Arrhythmia Studies
Aleria Aitova1,2,3, Andrey Berezhnoy1,2,3, Valeriya Tsvelaya1,2,3
1Laboratory of Experimental and Cellular Medicine, Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, 141700 Dolgoprudny, Russia.
Insights
Tissue engineering models offer new ways to study cardiac arrhythmias caused by reentry. These biomimetic cardiac tissues, combined with computational modeling, enhance understanding of wave propagation and arrhythmia mechanisms.
Area of Science:
- Biomedical Engineering
- Cardiovascular Research
- Tissue Engineering
Background:
- Cardiac arrhythmias, a leading cause of death, are often driven by reentry phenomena.
- Investigating reentry mechanisms in intact hearts is challenging.
- Optical mapping has provided insights but lacks mechanistic detail.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review tissue engineering approaches for studying cardiac reentry.
- To highlight advancements in biomimetic cardiac tissue models.
- To demonstrate the synergy between experimental and computational cardiac modeling.
Main Methods:
- Review of diverse tissue engineering strategies for cardiac models.
- Examples of substrate, cell type, and structural parameter variations.
- Introduction of novel polymer-based biomimetic tissues using cellular reprogramming.
Main Results:
- Tissue engineering models successfully mimic native cardiac tissue structure and function.
- These models allow direct observation of reentry formation and wave propagation.
- Computational modeling complements experimental findings for deeper mechanistic insights.
Conclusions:
- Engineered cardiac tissues provide powerful platforms for studying arrhythmias.
- Advancements in biomaterials and cellular reprogramming yield more accurate models.
- Integrated experimental and computational approaches are crucial for understanding cardiac electrophysiology.
Abstract:
Cardiac arrhythmias are a major cause of cardiovascular mortality worldwide. Many arrhythmias are caused by reentry, a phenomenon where excitation waves circulate in the heart. Optical mapping techniques have revealed the role of reentry in arrhythmia initiation and fibrillation transition, but the underlying biophysical mechanisms are still difficult to investigate in intact hearts. Tissue engineering models of cardiac tissue can mimic the structure and function of native cardiac tissue and enable interactive observation of reentry formation and wave propagation. This review will present various approaches to constructing cardiac tissue models for reentry studies, using the authors' work as examples. The review will highlight the evolution of tissue engineering designs based on different substrates, cell types, and structural parameters. A new approach using polymer materials and cellular reprogramming to create biomimetic cardiac tissues will be introduced. The review will also show how computational modeling of cardiac tissue can complement experimental data and how such models can be applied in the biomimetics of cardiac tissue.
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