Flexible nanoelectronics reveal arrhythmogenesis in transplanted human cardiomyocytes
The transplantation of human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CMs) offers a potential treatment for heart failure, but arrhythmogenic automaticity can arise from these transplanted cells. In this study, we investigated the effects of RADA16, a clinically approved self-assembling peptide that forms nanofibers after injection, on the vascularization, myofibril structure, and electrophysiological adaptation of hiPSC-CMs transplanted into rat hearts. RADA16 accelerated the transition of hiPSC-CMs toward adultlike gene expression profiles, enhanced sarcomere organization, and improved vascularization in the transplanted site. Flexible mesh nanoelectronics revealed fibrillation of transplanted hiPSC-CMs within the beating recipient heart, and RADA16 drastically reduced the automaticity of hiPSC-CMs. Our findings demonstrate the potential of self-assembling nanofibers to advance cardiac cell therapy and how flexible mesh nanoelectronics technology could improve safety.
Authors
- Irving Barrera (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6099-4316)
- Anthony Zhu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0002-0228-0838)
- Richard Lee (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4687-1381)
- Jessica C. Garbern (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2397-5180)
- Elton Aleksi
- Nivedhitha Velayutham (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7591-8164)
- Jeffrey J. Saucerman (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9464-8374)
- Morgan Sokol (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1261-2146)
- Junya Aoyama (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0024-4067)
- Fei Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2308-3649)
- Jia Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2217-6982)
- Xinhe Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1223-220X)
- Pichayathida Luanpaisanon (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0848-2334)
- Eun Seok Gil
- Ren Liu
- Fang Cao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8402-4250)
- Hannah Fandl
- Satvik Dasariraju
- Toshi Amanuma
Institutions
- Broad Institute (US)
- Boston Children's Hospital (US)
- Harvard University (US)
- Matrix Engineering (United States) (US)
- Matrix Research (United States) (US)
- University of Virginia (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Science
- Published
- 2025-10-16
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adw4612
- Citations
- 3
- Primary Topic
- Neuroscience and Neural Engineering
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 2.73