Functional\nand Structural Improvement of Engineered\nCardiac Microtissue Using Aligned Microfilaments Scaffold

To enhance therapeutic strategies for cardiovascular\ndiseases,\nthe development of more reliable in vitro preclinical systems is imperative.\nThese models, crucial for disease modeling and drug testing, must\naccurately replicate the 3D architecture of native heart tissue. In\nthis study, we engineered a scaffold with aligned poly(lactic-<i>co</i>-glycolic acid) (PLGA) microfilaments to induce cellular\nalignment in the engineered cardiac microtissue (ECMT). Consequently,\nthe coculture of three cell types, including cardiac progenitor cells\n(CPC), human umbilical cord endothelial cells (HUVEC), and human foreskin\nfibroblasts (HFF), within this 3D scaffold significantly improved\ncellular alignment compared to the control. Additionally, cells in\nthe ECMT exhibited a more uniaxial anisotropic and oriented cytoskeleton,\ncharacterized by immunostaining of F-actin. This approach not only\nenhanced cell structure and microtissue architecture but also improved\nfunctionality, evident in synchronized electrophysiological signals.\nTherefore, our engineered cardiac microtissue using this aligned microfilament\nscaffold (AMFS) holds great potential for pharmaceutical research\nand other biomedical applications.