{"id":13746,"date":"2017-02-08T09:44:15","date_gmt":"2017-02-08T09:44:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.kurzweilai.net\/?p=293726"},"modified":"2017-02-10T09:44:31","modified_gmt":"2017-02-10T09:44:31","slug":"scientists-create-first-3-d-synchronized-beating-heart-tissue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/2017\/02\/08\/scientists-create-first-3-d-synchronized-beating-heart-tissue\/","title":{"rendered":"Scientists create first 3-D synchronized-beating heart tissue"},"content":{"rendered":"
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3-D fluorescent image of 3-D tissue with many cells laid down sequentially to create attached layers of alternating cell types, like membranes in the human body (credit: York University)<\/p><\/div>\n

York University<\/a> scientists have created the first in vitro (lab) 3D heart tissue made from three different types of cardiac cells that beat in synchronized harmony. It may lead to better understanding of cardiac health and improved treatments.*<\/p>\n

The researchers constructed the heart tissue from three free-beating rat cell types: contractile cardiac muscle cells, connective tissue cells, and vascular cells. No external scaffold was used and the cells were the only building blocks of the generated cardiac tissue. The researchers believe this is the first 3D\u00a0in vitro<\/em>\u00a0cardiac tissue with three cell types that can beat together as one entity, rather than at different intervals, with high cell density and efficient cell contacts, and without the requirement of external electrical stimulation.<\/p>\n

The substance used to stick the cells together (ViaGlue<\/a>) may also provide researchers with tools to create and test 3D\u00a0in vitro<\/em>\u00a0cardiac tissue in their own labs to study heart disease and issues with transplantation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis breakthrough will allow better and earlier drug testing, and potentially eliminate harmful or toxic medications sooner,\u201d said York U chemistry Professor Muhammad Yousaf<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For 2D or 3D cardiac tissue to be functional it needs the same high cellular density and the cells must be in contact to facilitate synchronized beating, according to the researchers. The 3D cardiac tissue was created at a millimeter scale, but larger versions could be made, said Yousaf, who has created a start-up company, OrganoLinX, to commercialize the ViaGlue reagent and to provide custom 3D tissues on demand.<\/p>\n

“Production of 3-dimensional artificial cardiac tissues for fundamental studies of heart disease, transplantation, and evaluation of drug toxicity is an important and intense area of research,” the researchers note in a paper in open-access Nature Scientific Reports<\/em>.<\/p>\n

* Cardiovascular-associated diseases are the leading cause of death globally and are responsible for 40 per cent of deaths in North America, according to a 20<\/cite>11 report from the American Heart Association.<\/em><\/p>\n