Heart Cells on Lab Chip Display 'Nanosense' That Guides Behavior
Johns Hopkins biomedical engineers, working with colleagues in Korea, have produced a laboratory chip with nanoscopic grooves and ridges capable of growing cardiac tissue that more closely resembles natural heart muscle. Surprisingly, heart cells cultured in this way used a "nanosense" to collect instructions for growth and function solely from the physical patterns on the nanotextured chip and did not require any special chemical cues to steer the tissue development in distinct ways.
The scientists say this tool could be used to design new therapies or diagnostic tests for cardiac disease.
The device and experiments using it were described online in the Early Edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The work, a collaboration with Seoul National University, represents an important advance for researchers who grow cells in the lab to learn more about cardiac disorders and possible remedies.
Johns Hopkins researchers developed this chip to culture heart cells that more closely resemble natural cardiac tissue. (Credit: Will Kirk/homewoodphoto.jhu.edu)
The scientists say this tool could be used to design new therapies or diagnostic tests for cardiac disease.
The device and experiments using it were described online in the Early Edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The work, a collaboration with Seoul National University, represents an important advance for researchers who grow cells in the lab to learn more about cardiac disorders and possible remedies.
