Cardiac disease mechanobiology: advances using hiPSC-CMs

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Cardiovascular Research
• Stem Cell Biology

Background:

• Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are a leading global cause of death, necessitating better human-specific models for understanding pathophysiology.
• Current animal models often fail to replicate human cardiac features, and human-induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CMs) exhibit immaturity and heterogeneity.
• Studying cardiac mechanobiology, crucial for disease progression, is challenging in humans due to limitations in existing models.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review advancements in cardiac microenvironment engineering for modeling cardiac mechanobiology and diseases.
• To explore the potential of engineered biomaterial systems and hiPSC-CMs in studying human cardiac pathophysiology.
• To highlight the integration of biomaterials and genome editing for improved in vitro cardiac models.

Main Methods:

• Review of recent literature on cardiac microenvironment engineering.
• Discussion of human-induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) and their derived cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CMs).
• Exploration of biomaterial-based in vitro systems, including hydrogels, for mimicking native cardiac tissue.

Main Results:

• Engineered cardiac microenvironments using biomaterials can recapitulate the mechanical and biochemical cues of native tissue.
• hiPSC-CMs, when cultured in engineered environments, show potential for modeling disease-specific phenotypes.
• Advanced platforms integrating biomaterials and genome editing offer improved cellular maturation and mechanotransduction studies.

Conclusions:

• Engineered cardiac microenvironments represent a significant advancement for modeling cardiac mechanobiology and diseases.
• These sophisticated in vitro models hold promise for overcoming limitations of animal and traditional cell culture models.
• Future research integrating biomaterials and genome editing could revolutionize cardiac disease research and lead to precise interventions.