HEART-ON-CHIP
At AST, we combine our expertise in microfluidics with pluripotent stem cell technology to fabricate heart-on-chip models, providing a controlled microfluidic environment to better understand cardiac development in vitro, cardiac disease, and adverse drug effects.
Micro-Engineered Heart Tissues on a chip
We work towards a continuous improvement of 3D micro-engineered heart tissues (uEHTs) to recapitulate their physiological complexity by introducing multiple relevant cell types in a controlled ratio. Particularly, we focus on the crosstalk between cardiomyocytes and endothelial cells, since in vivo these cell types are in direct contact and endothelial cells play a major role in the regulation of cardiomyocyte’s structural organization, energy metabolism and contractile performance. The establishment of this model in a heart-on-chip system will provide better understanding of the role of the endothelial cells in the (patho-)physiology of human cardiomyocytes.
Arrhythmia on a chip
For studying disturbances in electrical conduction in cardiac tissue, it is necessary to develop a human cardiomyocyte-based model that can recapitulate in vivo action potential wavefront propagation. For this, we generate a geometrically confined 3D cardiac tissue prone to arrhythmic activation patterns. In parallel, we develop custom made methods for local electrical pacing, and generate a ChannelRhodopsin-expressing cell line for blue light pacing of a “pacemaker node” in the tissue. This, together with the custom built imaging setup and data interpretation, enables us to quantify the pro-arrhythmic properties of genetic mutations, drugs, or toxins.
Funding
ERC advanced grant
Researchers
PhD Candidate
Assistant Professor
Full Professor
Lymphatic system with cardiac tissue on a chip
The lymphatic system has an important role in the human body as it controls fluid homeostasis in the body, and it regulates the infiltration of immune cells to infected tissue, indicating its importance in inflammatory resolution. Despite its importance in disease progression and resolution, there are no current organ-on-chip systems that incorporate the lymphatic vasculature. In this model we want to incorporate the lymphatic system with cardiac tissue on chip, to get an improved disease model with control over lymphatic functionality
NWA-ORC 2019 1292.19.019
Heart-Brain Axis on a chip
The heart-brain axis is crucial for maintaining homeostasis in the body, including regulation of the heartbeat. In our lab, we work on developing a chip system that envelops the entire axis, from brain, through nerve, to heart. In this model, we want to include both a sympathetic and a parasympathetic component. The model can then be chemically or electrically manipulated in order to model pathologies of the heart-brain axis on chip.
Funding
NOCI
Researchers
PhD Candidate
Assistant Professor
Full Professor
Full Professor
Advanced 3D Cardiac Tissue Models for High-Throughput Screening and Translational Research
Three-dimensional cardiac tissues with controlled spatial organization, enabling the integration of different cell populations within defined tissue architectures. Such constructs have the potential to promote enhanced tissue maturation and physiological relevance while supporting the study of cardiac development, disease mechanisms, and tissue remodeling. By improving the reproducibility and scalability of 3D cardiac tissue technologies, they can facilitate drug testing, disease modeling, and high-throughput screening for biomedical research and pharmaceutical applications.