A myocardial infarct border-zone-on-a-chip demonstrates distinct regulation of cardiac tissue function by an oxygen gradient

Reproducing a heart attack on a chip

30 June 2023

After growing heart tissue on a chip, researchers have explored how it responds to a simulated heart attack.

Heart disease is one of the leading causes of death globally. Those who survive a heart attack may eventually die from heart failure arising from damaged sustained during the attack.

In particular, an oxygen gradient exists between healthy and damaged heart tissue, but it has been difficult to investigate how this gradient affects the function of the heart.

Now, a team led by researchers from SUSTech in Shenzhen, China, has recreated this oxygen gradient in heart tissue grown on a chip.

They found that the oxygen gradient gave rise to many of the changes that occur in heart cells after a heart attack.

The researchers plan to increase the complexity of their heart-on-a-chip system and use it to explore other aspects of heart attacks.

Supported content

References

1. Science Advances 8, eabn7097 (2022). doi: 10.1126/sciadv.abn7097