Investigation of the formation of cardiac tissue on substrates of varying degrees of anisotropy and rigidity

In the last decade,invitroexperiments have shown that mechanical properties of the bases could markedly influence the efficacy of differentiation of the induced pluripotent and embryonic stem cells and their development into the mature phenotype. By changing of mechanical, elastic and structural characteristics of the base, it is possible to increase the percentage of stem cells that differentiate to cardiomyocytes. The study was aimed at evaluation of the effects induced by changing physical characteristics of the base on the formation of phenotypic characteristics of cardiac cells. This included the comparison of structural properties of the cultured layer of heart tissue obtained by changing of elasticity and structure of polymeric bases. The results showed significant differences in calcium activity and structural characteristics of cardiomyocytes depending on the base properties, as well as significant variation in the excitation conduction. As long as conduction abnormalities in the heart tissues can often lead to occurrence of life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias, the results can be used to determine patient groups at increased risk of death from heart failure.