Heart Organoids in Pregestational Diabetes-Congenital Heart Defects

ER stress and lipid imbalance drive diabetic embryonic cardiomyopathy in an organoid model of human heart development
“Using an advanced human heart organoid system, we [at Michigan State University] simulated embryonic heart development under pregestational diabetes–like conditions. These organoids developed pathophysiological features observed in mouse and human studies before, including ROS-mediated stress and cardiomyocyte hypertrophy. scRNA-seq revealed cardiac cell-type-specific dysfunction affecting epicardial and cardiomyocyte populations and alterations in the endoplasmic reticulum and very-long-chain fatty acid lipid metabolism. Imaging and lipidomics confirmed these findings and showed that dyslipidemia was linked to fatty acid desaturase 2 mRNA decay dependent on IRE1-RIDD signaling. Targeting IRE1 or restoring lipid levels partially reversed the effects of pregestational diabetes, offering potential preventive and therapeutic strategies in humans.” MORE
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