A research team from Michigan State University in the United States has successfully developed the world's first "humanized" cardiac organoid using donated human stem cells, which can exhibit atrial fibrillation characteristics when exposed to inflammatory environments. This breakthrough provides an unprecedented live human tissue model for the study of arrhythmia, which is expected to break the deadlock of over 30 years of no new drugs in this field. This study, published in Cell Stem Cell, marks a crucial step in humanity's fight against arrhythmia.

Atrial fibrillation affects approximately 60 million people worldwide, but drug development has been stagnant for a long time due to the lack of accurate human heart models. In the past 30 years, no new drugs have been developed for the treatment of atrial fibrillation. Existing therapies often target symptoms rather than underlying mechanisms, so people still struggle to treat this disease effectively.

Since 2020, the team led by Aito Aguirre from the Department of Developmental and Stem Cell Biology at Michigan State University has used donated human stem cells to cultivate three-dimensional cardiac organoids with a diameter of several millimeters. These organoids not only have a chamber structure and vascular network similar to the real heart, but also can autonomously beat rhythmically. Moreover, the rhythmic pulsations of these organoids are very strong and can be observed without the need for a microscope.

The size of the organoid is similar to that of a bean, with extremely high precision, allowing the team to study heart development, disease, and drug response in an unprecedented way.

The key progress of this study is that the team has introduced immune cells into organoids for the first time. Postdoctoral researcher Colin O'Roch found that when organoids are exposed to an inflammatory environment, they experience arrhythmias similar to atrial fibrillation; After using anti-inflammatory drugs, the rhythm can be partially restored. This is the first time that the mechanism of inflammation induced arrhythmia has been intuitively revealed in a human tissue model.

We can finally directly observe the response of living human heart tissue to drugs, "Orok said. Aguirre pointed out that this model can accurately simulate the core mechanism of disease and will significantly accelerate the screening process of safe and effective drugs.

At present, the team has collaborated with pharmaceutical companies to conduct compound testing and will explore personalized treatment plans based on patient cells in the future, even paving the way for heart tissue transplantation.

[Editor in Chief Circle]

The heart is a lively and pulsating organ that delivers thousands of liters of blood to the human body on both sides every day. This is a heavy and great job. During atrial fibrillation, the heart beats rapidly and uncontrollably, causing symptoms such as fatigue, palpitations, and chest tightness. The heart is so important, but we do not have an accurate "living" human heart model. This time, a heart organ the size of a bean has made great contributions, allowing us to "see" for the first time in a human tissue model how inflammation leads to atrial fibrillation. In the future, this model can be used to test drugs, which is expected to significantly shorten the drug development cycle and open the way for personalized treatment of heart disease.

The first "humanized" cardiac organoid successfully developed, providing a new model for studying the mechanism of atrial fibrillation

A research team from Michigan State University in the United States has successfully developed the world's first "humanized" cardiac organoid using donated human stem cells, which can exhibit atrial fibrillation characteristics when exposed to inflammatory environments. This breakthrough provides an unprecedented live human tissue model for the study of arrhythmia, which is expected to break the deadlock of over 30 years of no new drugs in this field. This study, published in Cell Stem Cell, marks a crucial step in humanity's fight against arrhythmia.

Atrial fibrillation affects approximately 60 million people worldwide, but drug development has been stagnant for a long time due to the lack of accurate human heart models. In the past 30 years, no new drugs have been developed for the treatment of atrial fibrillation. Existing therapies often target symptoms rather than underlying mechanisms, so people still struggle to treat this disease effectively.

Since 2020, the team led by Aito Aguirre from the Department of Developmental and Stem Cell Biology at Michigan State University has used donated human stem cells to cultivate three-dimensional cardiac organoids with a diameter of several millimeters. These organoids not only have a chamber structure and vascular network similar to the real heart, but also can autonomously beat rhythmically. Moreover, the rhythmic pulsations of these organoids are very strong and can be observed without the need for a microscope.

The size of the organoid is similar to that of a bean, with extremely high precision, allowing the team to study heart development, disease, and drug response in an unprecedented way.

The key progress of this study is that the team has introduced immune cells into organoids for the first time. Postdoctoral researcher Colin O'Roch found that when organoids are exposed to an inflammatory environment, they experience arrhythmias similar to atrial fibrillation; After using anti-inflammatory drugs, the rhythm can be partially restored. This is the first time that the mechanism of inflammation induced arrhythmia has been intuitively revealed in a human tissue model.

We can finally directly observe the response of living human heart tissue to drugs, "Orok said. Aguirre pointed out that this model can accurately simulate the core mechanism of disease and will significantly accelerate the screening process of safe and effective drugs.

At present, the team has collaborated with pharmaceutical companies to conduct compound testing and will explore personalized treatment plans based on patient cells in the future, even paving the way for heart tissue transplantation.

[Editor in Chief Circle]

The heart is a lively and pulsating organ that delivers thousands of liters of blood to the human body on both sides every day. This is a heavy and great job. During atrial fibrillation, the heart beats rapidly and uncontrollably, causing symptoms such as fatigue, palpitations, and chest tightness. The heart is so important, but we do not have an accurate "living" human heart model. This time, a heart organ the size of a bean has made great contributions, allowing us to "see" for the first time in a human tissue model how inflammation leads to atrial fibrillation. In the future, this model can be used to test drugs, which is expected to significantly shorten the drug development cycle and open the way for personalized treatment of heart disease.

The first "humanized" cardiac organoid successfully developed, providing a new model for studying the mechanism of atrial fibrillation