A working 3D heart
A research team from the University of Minnesota has created a working model of the heart using three-dimensional printing. In the past, researchers have tried to use ink with cardiomyocytes that were grown from human pluripotent stem cells when printing, but the problem was that it was not possible to achieve the necessary cell density to shrink the heart muscle model.
In the new study, Brenda Ogle's group initially used 3D printing with cardiomyocytes and failed. Therefore, they developed a new approach and created ink from extracellular matrix proteins with human stem cells. Composition ink+ stem cells were used for 3D printing of heart chambers. Thus, the stem cells were first placed in the framework, and then differentiated into heart muscle cells.
Source: article in Circulation Research.
For the first time, the group was able to achieve the goal of high cell density in the skeleton in less than a month, now cardiomyocytes are able to contract together, as with the beating of a human heart.
The "printing out" of stem cells allowed them to organize and work together. Since the cells developed next to each other, the model was similar to the growth and differentiation of cells in vivo.
Unlike other well-known studies in this direction, the Ogl group has created a model of the heart, similar to a closed pump with an inlet and outlet of fluid, allowing to assess how the heart moves blood inside the body. This makes it a useful tool for studying the function of the heart at the cellular and molecular level. In addition, it will allow you to create a model of heart disease, and then study the effects of drugs and other therapeutic agents.
The heart muscle model has a length of about 1.5 centimeters for further study after implantation into the abdominal cavity of a mouse.
Article by M.E.Kupfer et al. In Situ Expansion, Differentiation, and Electro-Mechanical Coupling of Human Cardiac Muscle in a 3D Bioprinted, Chambered Organoid is published in the journal Circulation Research.
Aminat Adzhieva, portal "Eternal Youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru based on the materials of the University of Minnesota: Research Brief: Researchers 3D print a working heart pump with real human cells.