About this Research Topic
Modelling of heart diseases by using human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) has emerged as a transformative tool for drug screening. By generating patient-specific cardiomyocytes, researchers can potentially replicate the genetic and phenotypic characteristics of heart disease in vitro including the exploration of their underlying mechanisms as well as the evaluation of drug responses with greater precision and relevance to human physiology. hiPSC-based drug screening offers a promising alternative to traditional methods, based on heterologous systems or small animal models, facilitating the development of targeted therapies and personalized medicine approaches for cardiovascular conditions. Its ability to recapitulate patient-specific disease phenotypes positions it as a valuable platform for advancing cardiovascular research and drug discovery.
Conventional screening approaches often lack human relevance and fail to account for the complex genetic and physiological factors underlying cardiac conditions. Thus, hiPSC modeling offers a potential solution by providing a patient-specific, physiologically accurate platform for drug testing.
Although, recent advances in iPSC technology have significantly enhanced its utility for modeling heart disease and screening potential therapies additional effort must be perform in several key aspects such as: 1) more efficient differentiation protocols to reduce variability and generate mature cardiomyocytes, 2) the refinement of culture systems to better mimic the cardiac microenvironment, or 3) the integration of advanced imaging and functional experimental and computational assays for more comprehensive drug evaluation. Additionally, the advent of genome editing tools like CRISPR/Cas9 allows for precise manipulation of iPSCs to study the role of specific genetic mutations associated with heart disease, potentially enabling personalized drug screening approaches.
This Research Topic aims to recapitulate information about the most effective drug screening methods and lacks into heart disease modeling. Continued focus on overcoming these challenges will drive further advancements in iPSC-related research and its applications in regenerative medicine, disease modeling, and drug screening.
The goal of this Research Topic is to collect the current knowledge about experimental and computational human cardiac systems to improve our understanding of human cardiac (patho)physiology, providing more efficient tools for drug screening, therapy development and personalized medicine. This collection will also try to provide essential current lacks in the field and offer insights into future directions to develop more accurate experimental and computational models that accurately replicate human tissue physiology and diseases of the human native tissue.
In this Research Topic, we encourage researchers to contribute with original research articles, reviews, methods, commentaries, and perspectives including, but not only:
• iPSC generation and differentiation protocols (small molecule compounds, growth factors, genetic manipulation techniques...)
• iPSC-cardiomyocytes maturation protocols (three-dimensional culture systems, microfluidic technologies, tissue engineering approaches…)
• Complex iPSC-CMs systems (spheroids, organoids and engineered heart tissues)
• Cell-type specific models (atrial, nodal/Purkinje and ventricular)
• Patient-specific derived models for a more personalized medicine
• Computational models for a better and more focused drug pre-testing, drug screening and cardiotoxicity assays.
• Genome editing protocols for the generation of disease- and patient-specific lines or correcting genetic mutations.
Conventional screening approaches often lack human relevance and fail to account for the complex genetic and physiological factors underlying cardiac conditions. Thus, hiPSC modeling offers a potential solution by providing a patient-specific, physiologically accurate platform for drug testing.
Although, recent advances in iPSC technology have significantly enhanced its utility for modeling heart disease and screening potential therapies additional effort must be perform in several key aspects such as: 1) more efficient differentiation protocols to reduce variability and generate mature cardiomyocytes, 2) the refinement of culture systems to better mimic the cardiac microenvironment, or 3) the integration of advanced imaging and functional experimental and computational assays for more comprehensive drug evaluation. Additionally, the advent of genome editing tools like CRISPR/Cas9 allows for precise manipulation of iPSCs to study the role of specific genetic mutations associated with heart disease, potentially enabling personalized drug screening approaches.
This Research Topic aims to recapitulate information about the most effective drug screening methods and lacks into heart disease modeling. Continued focus on overcoming these challenges will drive further advancements in iPSC-related research and its applications in regenerative medicine, disease modeling, and drug screening.
The goal of this Research Topic is to collect the current knowledge about experimental and computational human cardiac systems to improve our understanding of human cardiac (patho)physiology, providing more efficient tools for drug screening, therapy development and personalized medicine. This collection will also try to provide essential current lacks in the field and offer insights into future directions to develop more accurate experimental and computational models that accurately replicate human tissue physiology and diseases of the human native tissue.
In this Research Topic, we encourage researchers to contribute with original research articles, reviews, methods, commentaries, and perspectives including, but not only:
• iPSC generation and differentiation protocols (small molecule compounds, growth factors, genetic manipulation techniques...)
• iPSC-cardiomyocytes maturation protocols (three-dimensional culture systems, microfluidic technologies, tissue engineering approaches…)
• Complex iPSC-CMs systems (spheroids, organoids and engineered heart tissues)
• Cell-type specific models (atrial, nodal/Purkinje and ventricular)
• Patient-specific derived models for a more personalized medicine
• Computational models for a better and more focused drug pre-testing, drug screening and cardiotoxicity assays.
• Genome editing protocols for the generation of disease- and patient-specific lines or correcting genetic mutations.
Keywords: human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC), cardiomyocytes, monolayer, engineered heart tissue, organoids, microtissues, pharmacology, computational modeling, multicellular 3D cardiac models
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
