A human heart the size of a rat's

A miniature human heart based on a rat organ has been created

The model will help in testing new drugs

Natalia Pelezneva, Naked Science

The construction of artificial organs is the most important direction of bioengineering. These organs are used not only for human transplantation. Testing of new drugs and other treatment methods remains an equally important area of their application. This is how a new development is supposed to be used – a tiny human heart grown on the basis of a rat's heart. A group of scientists led by bioengineer Don Nguyen (Duong Nguyen) presented the technology at a meeting of the American Heart Association in Portland (Miniature human hearts created from rat hearts).

The basis for the micro-organ was a specially prepared matrix made from the heart of a rat. To create it, the organ was treated with a detergent – a "detergent" that dissolves the membranes of the animal's muscle tissue cells. The result was a frame that preserved the vessels of the heart.

Scientists have grown human heart muscle cells on this matrix. Pluripotent stem cells are used for this purpose. Developing, such an undifferentiated cell is able to reproduce the program of cell formation of almost any organ. With the help of this technology, in 2015 it was possible to grow a model of the heart in the early stages of development.

The main task was to ensure the "blood supply" of the artificial heart. Dong Nguyen and her colleagues applied a technique called 4-Flow cannulation. Cannulas (tubes for supplying fluids to the body cavity) were installed in four blood vessels: the superior vena cava, the ascending aorta, the pulmonary vein and the pulmonary artery. This made it possible to restore almost full blood circulation.

Previously, the method of physiologist Oskar Langendorff was used for artificial blood circulation of extracted animal hearts. He first applied this technology in 1895. The heart was supplied with the blood of animals of the same species or with a nutrient solution through the aorta. The blood was moving retrograde– that is, in the opposite direction to the natural one. In a living mammalian organism, blood enters the aorta, passing through the atria and ventricles of the heart.

According to scientists, in the future, the new development can become the basis for the creation of full-fledged human organs. Today, the technology is supposed to be used to test new cardiological methods.

Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru  13.07.2017