Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 13, 2026
Preclinical Cardiac Electrophysiology Assessment by Dual Voltage and Calcium Optical Mapping of Human Organotypic Cardiac Slices
Published on: June 16, 2020
From aging biology to cardiac biotechnology: emerging platforms for modeling cardiac aging
Kritika Chaddha1, Mabel Bartlett2, Tzahi Cohen-Karni2,3
1Aging Institute, Department of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.
Insights
Aging significantly impacts heart health, yet studies often overlook age as a key factor. New bioengineering approaches and the A×G×E×D framework offer a multidimensional view to understand and treat age-related cardiac dysfunction.
Area of Science:
- Cardiovascular Research
- Aging Biology
- Biotechnology
Background:
- Aging is a primary risk factor for cardiovascular disease and mortality in older adults.
- Current preclinical cardiac studies often neglect age as a critical biological variable, creating a knowledge gap in understanding age-related cardiac dysfunction.
- Understanding the mechanisms of cardiac aging is crucial for developing effective interventions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To propose a novel bioengineering-driven approach to study cardiac aging.
- To introduce the A×G×E×D framework (Age, Genetics, Environment, Drug exposure) for a multidimensional analysis of cardiac vulnerability.
- To highlight how advanced biotechnologies can model and monitor cardiac aging.
Main Methods:
- Utilizing new approach methodologies (NAMs) from bioengineering.
- Integrating long-term cardiac microtissues with advanced biotechnology.
- Applying the A×G×E×D framework to analyze interactions affecting cardiac aging.
Main Results:
- Emerging bioengineering strategies can enable multidimensional monitoring of cardiac function, aging, and therapeutic responses.
- The A×G×E×D framework provides a comprehensive lens to understand converging factors in cardiac aging.
- Bioengineered platforms can recapitulate human cardiac aging, facilitating mechanistic studies.
Conclusions:
- Advancements in bioengineering and the A×G×E×D framework offer new frontiers in understanding cardiac aging.
- This approach facilitates the design of personalized interventions for age-related cardiovascular health.
- Developing robust platforms for studying cardiac aging is key to advancing precision geromedicine.
Abstract:
Aging is a major contributor to cardiovascular disease and mortality in older adults. Yet most preclinical and experimental cardiac studies fail to account for age as a primary biological variable, leaving a critical gap in our understanding of how aging contributes to disease progression. Bridging this gap requires integrating aging biology, cardiac pathophysiology, and cutting-edge biotechnology to uncover the mechanisms underlying age-related cardiac dysfunction. We offer a new approach methodologies (NAMs) perspective on how emerging bioengineering strategies may reshape the study of cardiac aging by enabling multidimensional monitoring of cardiac function, aging trajectories, and therapeutic responses. To capture this complexity, we propose the A×G×E×D framework, where A stands for age, G for genetics, E for environment, and D for drug exposure, as a multidimensional lens for understanding how these factors converge to determine cardiac vulnerability during aging. We highlight the integration of long-term cardiac microtissues with advancements in biotechnology to model age. This Perspective opens new frontiers for understanding how A×G×E×D interactions manifest at the molecular, cellular, and electrophysiological levels and for designing responsive, personalized interventions that align with each individual's evolving physiology. By developing robust bioengineered platforms that recapitulate human cardiac aging, we can advance toward precision geromedicine for cardiovascular health.
