Lee et al. established an autonomously swimming fish constructed from a bilayer of human heart cells; the muscular bilayer was integrated using tissue engineering strategies. Lee and group had the ability to manage muscle contractions in the biohybrid fish utilizing external optogenetic stimulation, enabling the fish analog to swim.
Schematics of autonomously swimming biohybrid fish. Credit: Michael Rosnach, Keel Yong Lee, Sung-Jin Park, Kevin Kit Parker
In tests, the biohybrid fish surpassed the locomotory speed of previous biohybrid muscular systems, the authors say. It preserved spontaneous activity for 108 days. By contrast, say the authors, biohybrid fish equipped with single-layered muscle showed deteriorating activity within the first month.
The data in this research study demonstrate the potential of muscular bilayer systems and mechanoelectrical signaling as a means to promote maturation of in vitro muscle tissues, write Lee and coworkers.
” Taken together,” the authors conclude, “the innovation explained here might represent fundamental pursue the objective of creating autonomous systems efficient in homeostatic guideline and adaptive behavioral control.”
For more on this research study, see Autonomous Biohybrid Fish– Made From Human Cardiac Cells– Swims Like the Heart Beats.
Recommendation: “An autonomously swimming biohybrid fish designed with human cardiac biophysics” by Keel Yong Lee, Sung-Jin Park, David G. Matthews, Sean L. Kim, Carlos Antonio Marquez, John F. Zimmerman, Herdeline Ann M. Ardoña, Andre G. Kleber, George V. Lauder and Kevin Kit Parker, 10 February 2022, Science.DOI: 10.1126/ science.abh0474.
The very first completely self-governing biohybrid fish from human stem-cell obtained cardiac muscle cells. Credit: Michael Rosnach, Keel Yong Lee, Sung-Jin Park, Kevin Kit Parker
An autonomously swimming biohybrid fish, created with a concentrate on 2 essential regulatory features of the human heart, has actually revealed the value of feedback systems in muscular pumps (such as the heart). The findings might one day assistance inform the advancement of a synthetic heart made from living muscle cells.
Biohybrid systems– gadgets consisting of both synthetic and biological components– are an effective method to investigate the physiological control mechanisms in biological organisms and to find bio-inspired robotic solutions to a host of pressing issues, consisting of those associated to human health. When it comes to natural fluid transportation pumps, like those that circulate blood, the performance of biohybrid systems has been lacking.
Here, researchers thought about whether two practical regulatory features of the heart– mechanoelectrical signaling and automaticity– might be moved to a synthetic analog of another fluid transport system: a swimming fish.
In tests, the biohybrid fish surpassed the locomotory speed of previous biohybrid muscular systems, the authors state. It preserved spontaneous activity for 108 days. By contrast, state the authors, biohybrid fish equipped with single-layered muscle revealed degrading activity within the first month.