Summary
Published in International Journal of Molecular Sciences (2021), this peer-reviewed study used 3D Petri Dish® micro-molds to form scaffold-free 3D microtissues. Full citation: Kerr, Charles M., et al. Multicellular Human Cardiac Organoids Transcriptomically Model Distinct Tissue-Level Features of Adult Myocardium
Multicellular Human Cardiac Organoids Transcriptomically Model Distinct Tissue-Level Features of Adult Myocardium
Research Overview
iPSC-derived cardiomyocytes are widely used for disease modeling and cardiotoxicity screening, and this group had developed human cardiac organoids to model myocardium more fully. Here they compared 2D iPSC-cardiomyocytes, 3D iPSC-cardiomyocytes, and cardiac organoids by transcriptomics, and benchmarked all three against human myocardium samples.
The 3D environment — in both 3D cardiomyocyte cultures and organoids — stimulated genes associated with tissue formation. Organoids showed more diverse, physiologically relevant cellular functions than cardiomyocyte-only models, and including other cardiac cell types brought them transcriptomically closer to adult myocardium, though they still lacked mature cardiomyocytes and immune cells.
Key Discoveries
- 2D iPSC-CMs, 3D iPSC-CMs, and cardiac organoids compared transcriptomically against human myocardium
- 3D culture activated tissue-formation genes; organoids showed broader physiological function
- Adding other cardiac cell types moved organoids closer to adult myocardium, minus mature CMs and immune cells
