Bioacoustic-enabled patterning of human iPSC-derived cardiomyocytes into 3D cardiac tissue

Biomaterials. 2017 Jul:131:47-57. doi: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2017.03.037. Epub 2017 Mar 28.

Abstract

The creation of physiologically-relevant human cardiac tissue with defined cell structure and function is essential for a wide variety of therapeutic, diagnostic, and drug screening applications. Here we report a new scalable method using Faraday waves to enable rapid aggregation of human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CMs) into predefined 3D constructs. At packing densities that approximate native myocardium (108-109 cells/ml), these hiPSC-CM-derived 3D tissues demonstrate significantly improved cell viability, metabolic activity, and intercellular connection when compared to constructs with random cell distribution. Moreover, the patterned hiPSC-CMs within the constructs exhibit significantly greater levels of contractile stress, beat frequency, and contraction-relaxation rates, suggesting their improved maturation. Our results demonstrate a novel application of Faraday waves to create stem cell-derived 3D cardiac tissue that resembles the cellular architecture of a native heart tissue for diverse basic research and clinical applications.

Keywords: Cardiac regenerative medicine; Cardiomyocytes; Human induced pluripotent stem cells; Sound wave cellular patterning.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Acoustics
  • Bioprinting / instrumentation
  • Bioprinting / methods*
  • Cells, Cultured
  • Equipment Design
  • Humans
  • Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells / cytology*
  • Myocardium / cytology
  • Myocytes, Cardiac / cytology*
  • Sound
  • Tissue Engineering / instrumentation
  • Tissue Engineering / methods*