Cardiovascular Regeneration

The main goal of the Cardiovascular Regeneration Group is to examine the underlying mechanisms of cardiovascular diseases (CVD), focusing on key pathophysiological factors such as inflammation, oxidative stress, and cellular dysfunction, using state-of-the-art bioengineered heart tissues created in our laboratory. In this way, we aim to identify specific molecular and cellular pathways involved in cardiovascular pathophysiology to enhance our understanding of disease progression.

Our team has developed advanced bioengineered heart tissues as “mini-hearts” that mimic the behaviour of the heart using miniature replicas composed of the same cells found in the human heart. This is the result of over 15 years of research in biomaterials, scaffold design, and cell sources, which have been optimised to enhance the maturation and functionality of engineered cardiovascular tissues. Our mini-hearts have been demonstrated to be optimal tools to investigate cellular responses, including migration, proliferation, and differentiation of cells within the engineered cardiovascular tissues. We employ them by themselves or together with a 3D bioprinter to print complex tissues that can be transplanted to repair a failing heart or to be used as advanced in vitro models to predict the effects of drugs on the human heart, as well as to model complex diseases, such as a heart attack and heart failure.

Our ultimate goal is to translate our findings from the bench to the bedside, thanks to the support of our multidisciplinary team comprising experts in cardiovascular pathophysiology, tissue engineering and medicine. The team is strategically located at HRI and the University of Technology Sydney, integrating an extensive network of expertise in both industry and academia, fostering the quick translation of findings to the clinic. At HRI, the team focuses on novel strategies to prevent and treat CVDs using mini-hearts from either commercially available or patient-derived stem cells, with a focus on personalised medicine, paving the way for future clinical trials and therapeutic interventions.

These research objectives aim to comprehensively address both the pathophysiological aspects of CVDs and the development of tissue engineering solutions for regeneration.

CVD, including myocardial infarction and heart failure, is a global killer, with one new heart attack every ten minutes in Australia. Our research has the potential to impact cardiovascular medicine by advancing our understanding of myocardial infarction and heart failure, informing novel therapeutic approaches, enhancing tissue engineering strategies, fostering translational research, and ultimately improving long-term health outcomes for individuals affected by cardiovascular diseases.

Given the unique features of our mini-hearts at approximating the human heart microenvironment, they can be used to replace current in vitro and in vivo models, both lacking the complex scenario that characterises the cell-cell and cell-matrix interaction of healthy and diseased heart tissues. This prevents the development of unforeseen and undesired secondary effects of therapies, which heavily impact their safety for patients. The ability to create personalised mini-hearts also presents the opportunity to create patient-specific therapies, adapting current knowledge in the best interest for the patient.

The cross-disciplinary nature of this research contributes to the interdisciplinary knowledge between cardiovascular pathophysiology and tissue engineering, with the potential to foster new collaborations between clinicians, bioengineers and scientists from both academia and industry.

Our bioengineered-focused solutions have the potential to reduce morbidity and improve the quality of life for individuals affected by CVDs. Ultimately, the impact of our research extends to improving long-term cardiovascular health outcomes for patients, saving the lives of millions of people that every year would otherwise die from CVD either directly or as a consequence of undesired effects of drugs.

National

• Prof Gemma Figtree and Assoc Prof Sean Lal (The University of Sydney)
• Prof Thomas Cox (Garvan Institute)
• Prof Fiona Wood and Assoc Prof Mark Fear (University of Western Australia)
• Prof Phil Hansbro (UTS/Centenary Institute)
• Prof Peter Ralph (UTS)
• Assoc Prof Xiaowei Wang (Baker IDI)
• Assoc Prof Lana McClements and Assoc Prof Kristine McGrath (UTS)
• Assoc Prof Irina Kabakova (UTS)
• Assoc Prof Jelena Rnjak-Kovacina (UNSW)

International

• Prof Carlijn Bouten, Eindhoven Technology University
• Prof Federica del Monte, Medical Univ of South Carolina/Harvard Medical School
• Prof Mario Moises Alvarez and Dr Grissel Trujillode Santiago, Tecnologico de Monterrey
• Prof Donatella Paolino (Magna Graecia University)
• Assist Prof Carlos Domingues Mota, Maastricht University
• Assist Prof Sasitorn Rungarunlert, Mahidol University
• Dr Kai-Hei TSE, Hong Kong University
• Assist Prof Tiziano Serra, AO Research Institute Davos

Industry

• CELLINK, Sweden
• Hoffmann-La Roche, Switzerland
• Regemat 3D, Spain
• BIO-INX, Belgium

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