Engineering 3D Cardiac Muscle Rings (RET)

3D engineered cardiac tissues are effective models for drug testing, disease modeling, understanding cardiac biomechanics, and biorobotics. However, building durable 3D standalone tissues and manipulating them for use in different assays are challenging due to insufficient or permanent anchoring. This project aims to propose an alternative anchoring strategy based on generating for generating freestanding, ring-shaped cardiac tissues hooked onto the anchors. The project will use polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) molds with circular grooves to construct the muscle rings. These rings will be compacted or mounted between specifically designed anchors, which may be fabricated independently or incorporated directly into the PDMS molds. This adaptable anchor design should ease tissue assembly and manipulation while allowing unidirectional force to be exerted without tearing the tissues.

Research Goals

-Design and fabricate PDMS molds with circular cavities for casting the initial muscle rings.

-Design and fabricate compatible tissue anchors using 3D printing and molding technologies.

-Generate modular muscle rings, evaluate tissue compaction between the anchors and force generation.

– Picking up and placing the tissues in different environments to enable advanced testing (e.g. investigating force-length relationship)

Learning Goals

-Learn the basics of computer-aided design (CAD) to properly model molds and anchor structures.

-Gain hands-on experience in 3D printing and PDMS microfabrication/soft lithography techniques.

-Learn mammalian cell culture and 3D tissue engineering protocols.

-Develop effective scientific communication skills through written reports, research presentations, and lab discussions.

Rough Timeline for the Project

-Week 1: Lab and lab safety training, software setup (CAD) and training, literature review on cardiac tissue engineering and muscle ring fabrication.

-Week 2-3: Designing and fabricating the anchors and the PDMS molds with circular grooves, exploring the integration of anchor structures directly into the mold designs.

-Week 2-3: Learning cell culture basics; mixing the precursor gel solution with cardiac cells and loading it into the PDMS grooves to initiate tissue formation.

-Week 4: Monitoring initial tissue compaction; assembling the muscle rings with the anchors (if fabricated separately) or evaluating their integration with pre-molded anchors.

-Week 5: Evaluating tissue integration; using ImageJ, MATLAB or Python to analyze tissue remodeling and estimate force generation. Picking up the tissues and loading them to a different environment (e.g. different stiffness, different length)

-Week 6: Finalizing experiments; data analysis and visualization; developing the final RET teaching module; poster preparation and presentation.