Heart tissue model
Products used:
Aim
Printing a heart with heart cells
Bioprinting of cardiac tissue model was performed using CELLINK’s LAMININK 521 bioink and human iPSC-derived cardiac aggregates. These models can be utilized to investigate cardiomyocyte maturation, drug screening, identifying drug targets, and cardiac regeneration.
In this video, CELLINK’s LAMININK 521 bioink is bioprinted into the shape on a heart. The cardiomyocyte aggregates were mixed with the bioink at 40 million cells/mL of bioink.
Beating cells on day 7
The video demonstrates contraction of the 3D bioprinted cardiac tissues after only one week of culture. The cardiomyocytes within the aggregates integrated into and proliferated in the CELLINK’s LAMININK 521 bioink.
The brightfield video, obtained with a 10X objective, show the stretched out cardiomyocyte sheet attaching to the CELLINK’s LAMININK 521 bioink and pulling the bioink with each contraction is evidence of a supportive 3D hydrogel environment. Hence, the CELLINK’s LAMININK 521 bioink environment encouraged cell proliferation, re-organization, attachment, and functionality/metabolism.
Cardiomyocyte functionality
After three weeks of culture, the bioprinted cardiac tissue model demonstrated intracellular mobilization of calcium of live cardiac aggregates within the CELLINK’s LAMININK 521 bioink. This was assayed by a fluorescent calcium indicator (Abcam, ab171868).
The incremental green flashes from each aggregate correlate to the flux of calcium during cardiomyocyte contraction. This can be seen in the video, recorded with a 10X objective. Synchronized influx, or green flashes, of some aggregates is an indication of increase cell-cell interaction and communication within the tissue model.