Artificial tissue ‘could help repair damaged hearts’

A new form of lab-grown tissue could one day be used to repair damaged hearts, according to scientists.

Researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School and the University of Sydney have engineered artificial heart muscle from hydrogels, developing a material that mimics the mechanical and biological properties of the organ itself.

Presenting their latest results to the American Chemical Society's annual meeting on March 18th, they said the tissue "beats" like a natural heart without falling apart – both in a lab dish and when implanted in animals.

The hydrogels used in the researchers' experiments are engineered from an elastic human protein called tropoelastin, using 3D printing to develop a structure that heart cells adhere to.

The team, which is led by Ali Khademhosseini, are now moving onto larger animal subjects to further their experiments.

"Our hearts are more than just a pile of cells," commented Mr Khademhosseini. "They're very organised in their architecture."