HeartEngine brings disciplines together to advance cardiac research

How does the human heart develop? And how can researchers better predict the effects of new treatments for cardiovascular disease? These are some of the questions being addressed within HeartEngine, a pioneering HealthTech Nexus project. 

The project uses human stem cells to create cardiac tissue that mimics key stages of heart development, providing researchers with a powerful new tool to study the heart and its diseases.

“Using microcapsules, we create an environment that supports controlled and uniform stem cell growth. This allows us to mimic processes that closely resemble the development of a real human heart,” says Robert Passier, Professor of Applied Stem Cell Technologies at the University of Twente.

HeartEngine combines expertise from a wide range of disciplines, including developmental biology, tissue engineering, computational modelling and stem cell research. This integrated approach enables scientists to investigate how genes and cells work together to build functional cardiac tissue.

“We use human stem cells to generate cardiac tissue and study which genes are active during development,” explains Gert Jan Veenstra, Professor of Molecular Developmental Biology at the Radboud Institute for Molecular Sciences, a close partner of Radboudumc. "This helps us understand how cells organise themselves and how genetic mechanisms drive the formation of the heart.”

Robert Passier and Gert-Jan Veenstra

Beyond advancing fundamental knowledge, the project has the potential to transform the way therapies are developed and tested.

“A model that can predict how human tissue responds to medication would be extremely valuable for both testing existing treatments and developing new ones,” says Veenstra. “Importantly, it is a human-based model, which could help reduce the need for animal testing in the future.”

The researchers emphasise that the project's strength lies in the close collaboration between different scientific fields.

“It is incredibly rewarding to combine expertise from different disciplines to achieve something truly unique,” says Passier. “Together, we are developing in vitro models that may one day contribute to practical solutions for cardiovascular disease. The commitment and collaboration within this consortium are exceptional.”

Images of stem cell organoids showing that they are viable and well organised, have formed a cavity, and can maintain their stem cell properties.

Read the full article about HeartEngine here.

HeartEngine is part of HealthTech Nexus, the strategic partnership between Radboud University Medical Centre and the University of Twente, which focuses on addressing unmet healthcare needs through innovative research and technology development.