3D Cell Culture Systems for Cardiovascular Tissue Engineering: In Vitro Modelling and In Vivo Regenerative Therapies

To date, most in vitro and in vivo studies in the field of cardiovascular tissue research rely on the conventional monolayer (2D) cell cultures. Such 2D culture systems may introduce false positive and/or negative results in the mechanistic studies and translational applications primarily due to the microenvironment of 2D cultures that substantially differ from the in vivo cardiovascular cellular and extracellular matrix (ECM) organizations. Recently, it is found that transition from conventional monolayer cell cultures to 3D culture systems contributes to a closer recapitulation of in vivo features, such as cell heterogeneity, ECM, cell signalling, proliferation, maturation, and response to stimuli. Moreover, recent advances in 3D histotypic and organotypic cultures have escalated the impact and scope in the studies of cardiovascular development, diseases, and therapies. For example, the engineered heart tissue/muscle and cardiovascular spheroids have shown great promises in the in vitro modelling of familial cardiomyopathies, cardiovascular toxicity assessment, drug discovery, and in vivo cardiac regeneration (i.e., cardiac patch). The trending advent of cardiovascular organoids further elevates the premises of 3D culture in a better understanding of heart development and congenital heart defects. Moreover, the convergence between 3D culture and cutting-edge bioengineering technologies, such as nano-biomaterials, microfluidics, 3D (bio)printing, stem cells, genome editing, high-content screening, bioimaging, and next-generation omics, will create more opportunities of cardiovascular studies to uncover molecular mechanisms of cardiovascular development and diseases, and develop novel therapies.

The scope of this call for submission:
 New 3D culture systems for better understanding of the cardiovascular development and diseases
 The use of 3D culture systems as drug discovery and toxicity assessment platform of cardiovascular disease
 New imaging techniques for in vitro and/or in vivo analysis of 3D cardiovascular culture systems
 Integrated microsensors for monitoring physiologically/pathologically conditions of 3D cardiovascular culture systems
 In vivo applications of 3D cardiovascular systems: cardiac protection, repair, and regeneration
 3D cardiovascular system as a platform for new technology proof-of-concept validation and evaluation
 Omics of the 3D cardiovascular systems
 Advanced bio-manufacturing methods to create 3D cardiovascular tissue mimics
 3D cardiac organoids: in vitro disease modelling and in vivo regenerative therapies
 Vascularization of 3D cardiac scaffolds
 Cardiac differentiation of stem cells in 3D culture systems