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EMBS: Regulation of cardiomyocyte electrical activity by cardiac fibroblasts in innovative 3D in vitro cellular cross-talk platforms

February 28, 2018 @ 6:30 pm - 7:30 pm

Cardiac fibroblasts (CFs) are known to regulate cardiomyocyte (CM) function in vivo and in two-dimensional in vitro cultures. Multicellular spheroids generated through cellular self-assembly provide cytoarchitectural complexities of native tissue including three-dimensionality, extensive cell-cell contacts, and appropriate cell-ECM interactions. They are increasingly suggested as building blocks for larger engineered tissues to achieve shapes, organization, heterogeneity, and other biomimetic complexities. Application of these tissue culture platforms is of particular importance in cardiac research as the myocardium is comprised of distinct but intermingled cell types. We examined the effect of CF activation on the regulation of CM electrical activity in a three-dimensional (3-D) microtissue environment and demonstrated that CF activation alone is capable of altering action potential and Ca2+ transient characteristics of CMs, leading to proarrhythmic electrical activity. We also used 3-D microtissues as building blocks to form larger microtissues with different spatial distributions of CMs and CFs. Heterocellular elongated microtissues which recapitulate the disproportionate CF spatial distribution seen in the infarcted myocardium showed that action potentials propagate through CF volumes albeit with significant delay. Our results also emphasize the importance of a 3-D environment where cell-cell interactions are prevalent, underscoring that CF activation and distribution in 3-D tissue plays a significant role in modulating CM electrophysiology and arrhythmias.

Speaker(s): Dr. Celinda Kofron,

Location:
Room: 325
Bldg: IBES
Brown University
85 Waterman Street
Providence, Rhode Island

Details

Date:
February 28, 2018
Time:
6:30 pm - 7:30 pm
Event Category:
Website:
http://events.vtools.ieee.org/m/158961

Organizer

[email protected]
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