Bioengineered Human Cardiac Ventricular Model with Transmural Helical Remodeling.

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Cardiovascular Research
• Tissue Engineering

Background:

• The heart's helical myocardial architecture is crucial for efficient blood ejection.
• Existing methods struggle to replicate complex cardiac structure-function relationships at the organ level.

Purpose of the Study:

• To engineer a human 3D ventricular model with helical transmural architecture.
• To investigate how mechanical cues influence cardiac tissue remodeling and structure-function relationships.

Main Methods:

• Assembling multilayered, patterned cardiac sheets on a 3D-printed conical mold.
• Comparing contractile performance of ventricles with cardiomyocytes aligned parallel, perpendicular, angled, or randomly.
• Utilizing finite element analysis to study stress distribution and cellular remodeling.

Main Results:

• Tissue-engineered ventricles with perpendicular cardiomyocyte alignment showed enhanced contractile pressures and capture rates.
• Spontaneous realignment of inner layers in perpendicular sheets formed a helical structure over 4 days.
• Finite element analysis indicated cells remodel to reduce local shear stress, influenced by alignment.

Conclusions:

• Engineered cardiac tissue can dynamically remodel in response to mechanical cues within a 3D geometry.
• This platform elucidates the mechanobiology underlying myocardial structure-function relationships.
• The study provides insights into replicating physiologically relevant cardiac architecture and function.