Descripción del proyecto
Solución de regeneración cardíaca «in vivo» disponible para la venta
Los avances en ingeniería tisular permiten fabricar tejido cardíaco para regenerar un corazón dañado o reparar defectos cardíacos congénitos. Sin embargo, el cultivo de tejido cardíaco es laborioso, por lo que se necesitan alternativas más rápidas. El equipo del proyecto LIGHTHEART, financiado por el Consejo Europeo de Investigación, se propone desarrollar un enfoque de ingeniería tisular cardíaca «in vivo» que utilice células madre pluripotentes inducidas diferenciadas en células cardíacas directamente en el corazón del paciente. La estrategia emplea la bioimpresión y la estimulación optogenética de proteínas expresadas en la superficie celular para impulsar el ensamblaje celular, evitando así la necesidad de añadir las células a hidrogeles. Se espera que esta revolucionaria solución de bioimpresión haga avanzar la medicina regenerativa y de trasplantes y dé así esperanza a millones de personas que sufren insuficiencia cardíaca.
Objetivo
Heart failure remains a leading cause of mortality worldwide taking an estimate of 16 million lives each year. Cardiac tissue engineering solutions that can improve the quality of life of those with advanced heart disease have proved challenging so far. Bioprinting is an exciting technology that holds promise to fabricate tissues and organs. Lab-grown engineered cardiac muscle requires at least four weeks to maturate in a bioreactor. In LIGHTHEART, an off-the-shelf solution will be developed for treating injured myocardium in vivo. An unconventional combination of bioprinting and optogenetics will be used to surgically fabricate engineered cardiac muscle directly at the patient’s heart. A surgical bioprinting tool will be constructed to achieve vascularization and cellular architectures as that observed in native cardiac muscle. Induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiac cells will be the basis of the bioinspired biomaterial-free ink that will be printed. Optogenetic expression of different light-sensitive proteins at the cell surfaces will be the sole trigger of cellular assembly, thus omitting the need to embed cells in hydrogels or printing in a supporting bath. Surgical optogenetic bioprinting will be first tested ex vivo using a silicone human phantom with a mimicking beating heart, and later in vivo in a large animal model in accordance with the 3R principles. LIGHTHEART opens up new horizons in the way heart failure can be clinically treated and brings hope to patients who are desperately waiting for a heart transplantation. The disruptive nature of LIGHTHEART will unite engineers, surgeons and scientists to change the future of transplantation medicine with modular bottom-up technologies that allow for in vivo tissue and organ restoration or replacement directly at the operating theatre.
Ámbito científico
Palabras clave
Programa(s)
- HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC) Main Programme
Régimen de financiación
ERC - Support for frontier research (ERC)Institución de acogida
69117 Heidelberg
Alemania