A “Culture Mold” for Growing Heart Cells
Inducing early stem cells to become a specific tissue cell type is no easy business, but a research collaboration between Michigan Tech and Harvard Medical School has made progress in this task by building an artificial environment for growing cardiomyocytes. “Using photolithography to shape a polydimethylsiloxane substrate and micropatterning to alter the substrate surface, the researchers developed 3D molds that mimic the natural forces and pressures that cardiomyocytes experience in the heart. The micropatterning alters the cell cytoskeleton and nuclear shape of cells cultured in the molds, causing changes in gene expression. This results in more robust, mature and functional cardiomyocyte-like cells. As the cells mature, they begin to beat, and more closely resemble mature, native cardiomyocytes.” MORE
Image Credit: Michigan Tech and MedGadget.com