Scientists from QIMR Berghofer’s Cardiac Bioengineering Lab have developed lab-grown, three-dimensional heart tissues known as cardiac organoids that mimic the structure and function of real adult human heart muscle.

To create these tissues, the researchers use special cells called human pluripotent stem cells (which can turn into any cell in the body). However, when these stem cells become heart cells, they usually stay immature and more like the heart tissue found in a developing baby. This immaturity can limit their usefulness to model diseases that present in childhood or as an adult.

In the study, researchers activated two key biological pathways to mimic the effects of exercise in order to mature these cells, making them behave more like genuine adult heart tissue. This breakthrough means scientists can now use these lab-grown heart tissues to test new drugs that could help people with heart conditions. The findings have been published in Nature Cardiovascular Research.