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Show 15 college of engineering Abstract-Tissue modeling is increasingly useful in areas of pharmacology, physiology, and developmental biology. Although 2D cell culture has been instrumental in basic science research, there is a need for a more complex, 3D tissue model which can more closely mimic the microenvironment found in native tissue. We developed a 3D tissue model with microstructure features of the native myocardium that can be used as a substrate for testing pharmaceutical agents and understanding physiology and pathophysiology. Tis-sue samples were fabricated from mixed populations of cardiac cells embedded into a gel mixture made of Matrigel and fibrinogen, which were then cast into structured molds. These constructs were cultured for 10 days, sectioned and visualized under a microscope, and then compared against traditional 2D cell culture and native adult rat myocardium. The important qualities that were observed were alignment of Z-disks within each cell, Z-disk alignment from cell to cell, and 3D spatial organization of cells. To compare experimental groups, we evaluated spacing of Z-disks (sarcomere length) and used developed software to produce spatial frequency spectrums that showed in which direction the cells aligned and with what regu-larity they were aligned in the same direction (alignment ratio). Our 3D tissue model showed an alignment ratio of 0.42 ±0.04, which was similar to native tissue at 0.42 ±0.02. Traditional 2D cultured tissue showed an alignment statistically lower at 0.32 ±0.02. Moreover, our 3D model had a similar sarcomere length to that of native myocardium, whereas 2D cell culture had a significantly lower sarcomere length. These data suggest we have produced a tissue model that is closer in structure and function to the native myocardium that can be used in experimental testing. DEVELOPMENT AND CHARACTERIZATION OF IN VITRO 3D CARDIAC TISSUE MODELS Aric Q. Pahnke (Robert Hitchcock) Dept. of Bioengineering University of Utah UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ABSTRACTS Robert Hitchcock Aric Q. Pahnke |
