Lab-grown pig heart tissue could help replace live animals in heart
disease research

Date:
March 8, 2022
Source:
University of Surrey
Summary:
A new way to replicate what happens inside the heart after cardiac
arrest could open new avenues for the study of heart regeneration
whilst reducing the use of live animals in research, according to
a new study.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
A new way to replicate what happens inside the heart after cardiac
arrest could open new avenues for the study of heart regeneration whilst reducing the use of live animals in research, according to a study from
the University of Surrey and King's College London.


========================================================================== Researchers have developed a process that involves obtaining and growing
thin slices of pig heart tissue which include both the epicardium --
the most external layer of the heart that contains cells that can promote
its recovery - - and underlying heart-muscle.

The team treated the epicardial slices with stimulating compounds,
showing that cells become activated in a way that replicates what happens
in the heart after a heart attack. The new process was able to reproduce observations typically obtained in live animal models.

Dr Paola Campagnolo, lead author of the study and Senior Lecturer in
Molecular Cardiovascular Sciences at the University of Surrey, said: "This research typifies the One Health, One Medicine ethos at the University
of Surrey, as our model could help us understand how to stimulate the
repair process after heart attacks without the need to use live animals
in the research. We are hopeful our model could lead to better health
outcomes for humans and reduce the reliance on animal experiments in cardiovascular science." According to the British Heart Foundation,
there are around 7.6 million people living with heart or circulatory
disease in the UK. This disease causes a quarter of all deaths in the UK.

The ability of the heart to recover after an injury is severely limited
by the low number of regenerating cells within its tissue. The current
research models and strategies aimed at improving the heart's repair
process are mainly based on surgical procedures performed on laboratory animals.

Dr Davide Maselli, Postdoctoral Research Associate and first author of
the paper, said: "This work provides an innovative tool to study the
healing from a heart attack. We believe that our model could be useful
to dissect the role of different cells in the reparative process. In our consideration, it is extremely important that every step forward in this
field delivers a clinical perspective for the patients while reducing the burden on research animals." The research, published in the journal npj Regenerative Medicine, proposes a system to study the regeneration of
the heart in a laboratory dish and could therefore lead to a reduction
in the number of small animals used in cardiovascular research.


========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_Surrey. Note: Content
may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. D. Maselli, R. S. Matos, R. D. Johnson, C. Chiappini, P. Camelliti,
P.

Campagnolo. Epicardial slices: an innovative 3D organotypic model
to study epicardial cell physiology and activation. npj Regenerative
Medicine, 2022; 7 (1) DOI: 10.1038/s41536-021-00202-7 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/03/220308102757.htm

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