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Modeling the Response of Heart Muscle to Mechanical Stimulation In Vitro

  • Cell Behavior Manipulation (S Willerth, Section Editor)
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Abstract

Purpose of Review

This review summarizes current in vitro tools used for develo** engineered heart muscle and studying the response of these tissues to mechanical loading changes that simulate the mechanical cues that heart muscle experiences in vivo.

Recent Findings

Advances in stem cell technology allow researchers to model genetically inherited disease phenotypes in vitro. However, one major challenge for in vitro disease modeling and drug screening is that the cardiomyocytes in simple monolayer culture are normally not exposed to the mechanical stimuli that the heart experiences in vivo. Mechanical loading is critical to heart development and pathophysiology. In vitro models have shown that cells in culture can respond to mechanical conditioning, and in some cases, this condition is critical for maturing stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes.

Summary

Tools from mechanobiology have broadened the view of how physical cues guide cardiomyocyte behavior and function. This review highlights in vitro technologies for develo** cardiac models and studying cardiac responses to mechanical loading.

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Acknowledgments

We have tried to present a concise review of the current methods of the engineered heart muscle, but we may have missed some significant publications that have contributed to the field. We apologize to any colleagues whose work was not cited in this article. We would like to acknowledge the staff of the Writing Center at Washington University in St. Louis for their feedback on this article.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering and Material Science, Washington University in Saint Louis, Saint Louis, MO, USA

    **gxuan Guo & Nathaniel Huebsch

  2. Departments of Biomedical Engineering, Center for Cardiovascular Research, Center for Regenerative Medicine, Center for Investigation of Membrane Excitability Diseases, Center for Engineering Mechanobiology, Washington University in Saint Louis, Saint Louis, MO, USA

    Nathaniel Huebsch

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  1. **gxuan Guo
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Correspondence to Nathaniel Huebsch.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Cell Behavior Manipulation

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Guo, J., Huebsch, N. Modeling the Response of Heart Muscle to Mechanical Stimulation In Vitro. Curr. Tissue Microenviron. Rep. 1, 61–72 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43152-020-00007-8

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