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Finkel S, Sweet S, Locke T, Smith S, Wang Z, Sandini C, Imredy J, He Y, Durante M, Lagrutta A, Feinberg A, Lee A. FRESH™ 3D bioprinted cardiac tissue, a bioengineered platform for in vitro pharmacology. APL Bioeng 2023; 7:046113. [PMID: 38046544 PMCID: PMC10693443 DOI: 10.1063/5.0163363] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/16/2023] [Accepted: 10/30/2023] [Indexed: 12/05/2023] Open
Abstract
There is critical need for a predictive model of human cardiac physiology in drug development to assess compound effects on human tissues. In vitro two-dimensional monolayer cultures of cardiomyocytes provide biochemical and cellular readouts, and in vivo animal models provide information on systemic cardiovascular response. However, there remains a significant gap in these models due to their incomplete recapitulation of adult human cardiovascular physiology. Recent efforts in developing in vitro models from engineered heart tissues have demonstrated potential for bridging this gap using human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CMs) in three-dimensional tissue structure. Here, we advance this paradigm by implementing FRESH™ 3D bioprinting to build human cardiac tissues in a medium throughput, well-plate format with controlled tissue architecture, tailored cellular composition, and native-like physiological function, specifically in its drug response. We combined hiPSC-CMs, endothelial cells, and fibroblasts in a cellular bioink and FRESH™ 3D bioprinted this mixture in the format of a thin tissue strip stabilized on a tissue fixture. We show that cardiac tissues could be fabricated directly in a 24-well plate format were composed of dense and highly aligned hiPSC-CMs at >600 million cells/mL and, within 14 days, demonstrated reproducible calcium transients and a fast conduction velocity of ∼16 cm/s. Interrogation of these cardiac tissues with the β-adrenergic receptor agonist isoproterenol showed responses consistent with positive chronotropy and inotropy. Treatment with calcium channel blocker verapamil demonstrated responses expected of hiPSC-CM derived cardiac tissues. These results confirm that FRESH™ 3D bioprinted cardiac tissues represent an in vitro platform that provides data on human physiological response.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Tyler Locke
- FluidForm, Inc., Waltham, Massachusetts 02451, USA
| | - Sydney Smith
- FluidForm, Inc., Waltham, Massachusetts 02451, USA
| | - Zhefan Wang
- FluidForm, Inc., Waltham, Massachusetts 02451, USA
| | | | - John Imredy
- In Vitro Safety Pharmacology, Genetic and Cellular Toxicology, Merck & Co. Inc., Rahway, New Jersey 07065, USA
| | - Yufang He
- Division of Technology, Infrastructure, Operations and Experience, Merck & Co. Inc., Rahway, New Jersey 07065, USA
| | - Marc Durante
- Division of Technology, Infrastructure, Operations and Experience, Merck & Co. Inc., Rahway, New Jersey 07065, USA
| | - Armando Lagrutta
- In Vitro Safety Pharmacology, Genetic and Cellular Toxicology, Merck & Co. Inc., Rahway, New Jersey 07065, USA
| | | | - Andrew Lee
- FluidForm, Inc., Waltham, Massachusetts 02451, USA
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Novel method of differentiating human induced pluripotent stem cells to mature cardiomyocytes via Sfrp2. Sci Rep 2023; 13:3920. [PMID: 36894665 PMCID: PMC9998650 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-31144-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/01/2022] [Accepted: 03/07/2023] [Indexed: 03/11/2023] Open
Abstract
Current methods to generate cardiomyocytes from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSc) utilize broad-spectrum pharmacological inhibitors. These methods give rise to cardiomyocytes which are typically immature. Since we have recently demonstrated that cardiomyogenesis in vitro and in vivo requires Sfrp2, we asked if Sfrp2 would drive differentiation of human iPSc into cardiomyocytes. Indeed, we found that Sfrp2 induced robust cardiac differentiation. Importantly, replacement of broad spectrum pharmacological inhibitors with Sfrp2 gave rise to mature cardiomyocytes as evidenced by their sarcomere structure, electrophysiological profiles, and ability to form gap junctions.
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