Enhanced structural maturation of human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes under a controlled microenvironment in a microfluidic system

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

Abstract

The lack of a fully developed human cardiac model in vitro hampers the progress of many biomedical research fields including pharmacology, developmental biology, and disease modeling. Currently, available methods may only differentiate human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) into immature cardiomyocytes. To achieve cardiomyocyte maturation, appropriate modulation of cellular microenvironment is needed. This study aims to optimize a microfluidic system that enhances maturation of human iPSC-derived cardiomyocytes (iPSC-CMs) through cyclic pulsatile hemodynamic forces. Human iPSC-CMs cultured in the microfluidic system show increased alignment and contractility and appear more rod-like shaped with increased cell size and increased sarcomere length when compared to static cultures. Increased complexity and density of the mitochondrial network in iPSC-CMs cultured in the microfluidic system are in line with expression of mitochondrial marker genes MT-CO1 and OPA1. Moreover, the optimized microfluidic system is capable of stably maintaining controlled oxygen levels and inducing hypoxia, revealed by increased expression of HIF1α and EGLN2 as well as changes in contraction parameters in iPSC-CMs. In summary, this microfluidic system boosts the structural maturation of iPSC-CM culture and could serve as an advanced in vitro cardiac model for biomedical research in the future. Statement of Significance: The availability of in vitro human cardiomyocytes generated from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) opens the possibility to develop human in vitro heart models for disease modeling and drug testing. However, iPSC-derived cardiomyocytes remain structurally and functionally immature, which hinders their application. In this manuscript, we present an optimized and complete microfluidic system that enhances maturation of iPSC-derived cardiomyocytes through physiological cyclic pulsatile hemodynamic forces. Furthermore, we improved our microfluidic system by using a closed microfluidic recirculation and oxygen exchangers to achieve and maintain low oxygen in the culture chambers, which is suitable for mimicking the hypoxic condition and studying the pathophysiological mechanisms of human diseases in vitro. In the future, a variety of technologies including 3D tissue engineering could be integrated into our system, which may greatly extend the use of iPSC-derived cardiac models in drug development and disease modeling.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)273-286
Number of pages14
JournalActa biomaterialia
Volume102
Publication statusPublished - 15 Jan 2020
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

PubMed 31778832
ORCID /0000-0002-8375-8233/work/142236376
ORCID /0000-0002-8588-9755/work/142246726
ORCID /0000-0003-2514-9429/work/148606772

Keywords

Sustainable Development Goals

Keywords

  • Hemodynamic force, Human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes, Maturation, Microfluidic system, Oxygen control