Drug Discovery and Development

  • Home Drug Discovery and Development
  • Drug Discovery
  • Women in Pharma and Biotech
  • Oncology
  • Neurological Disease
  • Infectious Disease
  • Resources
    • Video features
    • Podcast
    • Voices
    • Views
    • Webinars
  • Pharma 50
    • 2025 Pharma 50
    • 2024 Pharma 50
    • 2023 Pharma 50
    • 2022 Pharma 50
    • 2021 Pharma 50
  • Advertise
  • SUBSCRIBE

Muscles On-a-Chip Provide Insight into Cardiac Stem Cell Therapies

By Drug Discovery Trends Editor | February 8, 2016

Abstract muscle fiber background and red blood cells.  (Shutterstock)Stem cell-derived heart muscle cells may fail to effectively replace damaged cardiac tissue because they don’t contract strongly enough, according to a study in The Journal of Cell Biology. The study, “Coupling Primary and Stem Cell-Derived Cardiomyocytes in an In Vitro Model of Cardiac Cell Therapy,” by Yvonne Aratyn-Schaus and Francesco Pasqualini and colleagues, may help explain why stem cell-based therapies have so far shown limited benefits for heart attack patients in clinical trials.
 
The possibility of using stem cells to replace damaged heart tissue following a heart attack has interested researchers for many years. Though stem cells transplanted into patients can develop into heart muscle cells (cardiomyocytes) and integrate with undamaged regions of cardiac tissue, several pre-clinical studies and clinical trials have failed to identify significant improvements in the contractile function of the heart.
One explanation for this could be that mechanical forces are not transmitted properly between the new, stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes and the old, surviving heart cells. The mechanical forces exchanged by cardiomyocytes are impossible to measure in patients. So, a team of researchers led by Professor Kit Parker at Harvard University developed a simplified, in vitro system in which single heart cells isolated from mice are combined with individual, stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes to form a two-cell “microtissue” that the researchers call a “muscle on-a-chip.”
Using this approach, Pasqualini and Aratyn-Schaus, post-doctoral fellows in the Parker lab and co-first authors of the study, found that stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes could structurally couple, and synchronously beat with mouse cardiomyocytes. Stem cell-derived myocytes contracted less strongly than their partners, however, and this imbalance resulted in the cells transmitting mechanical forces to their surroundings, instead of to each other.
 
Computer simulations revealed that the unequal forces generated by stem cell-derived and native cardiomyocytes are sufficient to induce the formation of cellular adhesions that can dissipate force to the cells’ surroundings. The computer model also suggests that human cardiomyocytes are likely to behave similarly.
 
Inefficient force transmission may therefore explain why stem cell transplantation has been somewhat ineffective in restoring normal heart function. Parker and colleagues’ muscle on-a-chip technique should help researchers develop ways to improve the mechanical coupling of stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes to surviving heart tissue.

Filed Under: Drug Discovery

 

Related Articles Read More >

Sai Life Sciences exec: GLP-1 boom has ‘exploded the peptide field’ as firm opens new center
Novartis in the Pharma 50
Swissmedic approves first malaria treatment for infants
Korean team reports all-in-one cancer nanomedicine in pre-clinical studies
Nektar’s Phase 2b atopic dermatitis win triggers 1,746% analyst target surge, but legal tussle with ex-partner Lilly could complicate path forward
“ddd
EXPAND YOUR KNOWLEDGE AND STAY CONNECTED
Get the latest news and trends happening now in the drug discovery and development industry.

MEDTECH 100 INDEX

Medtech 100 logo
Market Summary > Current Price
The MedTech 100 is a financial index calculated using the BIG100 companies covered in Medical Design and Outsourcing.
Drug Discovery and Development
  • MassDevice
  • DeviceTalks
  • Medtech100 Index
  • Medical Design Sourcing
  • Medical Design & Outsourcing
  • Medical Tubing + Extrusion
  • Subscribe to our E-Newsletter
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • R&D World
  • Drug Delivery Business News
  • Pharmaceutical Processing World

Copyright © 2025 WTWH Media LLC. All Rights Reserved. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of WTWH Media
Privacy Policy | Advertising | About Us

Search Drug Discovery & Development

  • Home Drug Discovery and Development
  • Drug Discovery
  • Women in Pharma and Biotech
  • Oncology
  • Neurological Disease
  • Infectious Disease
  • Resources
    • Video features
    • Podcast
    • Voices
    • Views
    • Webinars
  • Pharma 50
    • 2025 Pharma 50
    • 2024 Pharma 50
    • 2023 Pharma 50
    • 2022 Pharma 50
    • 2021 Pharma 50
  • Advertise
  • SUBSCRIBE