Abstract

Heart-on-a-Chip System with Polymeric Nanofiber Mats as a New Approach for Mimicking Heart Tissue Microphysiology

Elzbieta Jastrzebska, Prof. WUT, Warsaw University of Technology

Currently available treatments of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) do not allow for full recovery, as they focus mainly on regulating the work of the heart and preventing the further development of the disease. Optimization of new therapies requires the availability of proper cell models that mimic in vivo conditions, and Lab-on-a-chip systems could meet such requirements. Heart-on-a-chip system made of polycarbonate-poly(dimethylsiloxane)-polycarbonate (PC-PDMS-PC) layers was developed to study cardiac cell function and mimicking a state of heart disease. Additionally, to improve the parallel organization of heart cells, the microsystem was integrated with polyurethane (PU) nanofibers. The usage of nanofibers is a new approach in mimicking and controlling of heart tissue microphysiology. It has been investigated that the design of the flow microsystem enables the supply of a sufficient amount of oxygen to the cell culture, thanks to which high cell viability and proliferation of human heart muscle cells (HCM) was obtained. Additionally, it was proved that dynamic conditions (a flow rate) and nanofibers enhanced the parallel organization of the cells. Investigation of heart cell maturation under flow conditions is also studied. The designed microsystem can be a good tool for studying cardiac cell function and simulating disease.