A Three-Dimensional Engineered Cardiac In Vitro Model: Controlled Alignment of Cardiomyocytes in 3D Microphysiological Systems.

Cardiomyocyte alignment in myocardium tissue plays a significant role in the physiological, electrical, and mechanical functions of the myocardium. It remains, however, difficult to align cardiac cells in a 3D in vitro heart model. This paper proposes a simple method to align cells using microfabricated Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) grooves with large dimensions (of up to 350 µm in width), similar to the dimensions of trabeculae carneae, the smallest functional unit of the myocardium.