Researchers from Mass General Brigham and collaborating institutions have developed a non-invasive approach to manipulate cardiac tissue activity by using light to stimulate an innovative ink incorporated into bioprinted tissue. Their goal is to develop a technique that can be used to repair the heart. Their findings in preclinical models, published in Science Advances, show the transformative potential of non-invasive therapeutic methods to control electrically active tissues.
"We showed for the first time that with this optoelectronically active ink, we can print scaffolds that allow remote control of engineered heart tissues," said co-corresponding author Y. Shrike Zhang, PhD, of the Division of Engineering in Medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital, a founding member of the Mass General Brigham healthcare system. "This approach paves the way for non-invasive light stimulation, tissue regeneration, and host integration capabilities in cardiac therapy and beyond."
Three-dimensional bioprinted tissues composed of cells and other body-compatible materials are a powerful emerging tool to repair damaged heart tissue. But most bioprinted tissues cannot generate the necessary electrical activity for cellular function. They must instead rely on invasive wire and electrode placement to control heart activity, which can damage body tissues. Zhang and his colleagues addressed this limitation by infusing the bioprinted tissue with the "optoelectronically active" ink that can be remotely stimulated by light to generate electrical activity in these tissues. The authors also showed that these new, dynamic engineered tissues can synchronize with and accelerate the heart rate when stimulated by light in preclinical models.
"Now that we have established the proof-of-concept for this technology, we are shifting our efforts towards understanding how it might promote long-term tissue regeneration and integrating it seamlessly within the heart's biology," said Zhang.
Authorship: In addition to Zhang, Mass General Brigham authors include Sushila Maharajan, Joshua Weygant, Carlos Ezio Garciamendez-Mijares, Luis Carlos Orrantia Clark. Additional authors include Faheem Ershad, Zhoulyu Rao, Fernanda C. Paccola Mesquita, Junkyu Ha, Lei Gonzalez, Tahir Haideri, Ernesto Curty da Costa, Angel Moctezuma Ramirez, Yuqi Wang, Seonmin Jang, Yuntao Lu, Shubham Patel, Xiaoyang Wang, Yifan Tao, Muhammad Zubair, Xiaojun Lance Lian, Abdelmotagaly Elgalad, Jian Yang, Camila Hochman-Mendez, and Cunjiang Yu.
Disclosures: Zhang consulted for Allevi by 3D Systems and sits on the scientific advisory board and holds options of Xellar, neither of which, however, participated in or biased the work. The relevant interests are managed by the Brigham and Women's Hospital. The other authors declare that they have no competing interests.
Funding: This work was supported by the National Institute of Health (R21EB026175, R21EB030257, R21HL168656, R00CA201603, R01EB028143, R01HL166522, R56EB034702, R01CA282451), the National Science Foundation (CBET-2227063, CBET-EBMS720 1936105, CISE-IIS-2225698), the American Heart Association (19TPA34850188), the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (2022-316712), and the Brigham Research Institute.
Paper Cited: Ershad et al. "Bioprinted Optoelectronically Active Cardiac Tissues" Science Advances DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adt7210
