Modeling of human organs has long been a task for scientists in order to lower the costs of therapeutic development and understand the pathological onset of human disease. For decades, despite marked differences in genetics and etiology, animal models remained the norm for drug discovery and disease modeling. Innovative biofabrication techniques have facilitated the development of organ-on-a-chip technology that has great potential to complement conventional animal models. However, human organ as a whole, more specifically the human heart, is difficult to regenerate in vitro, in terms of its chamber specific orientation and its electrical functional complexity. Recent progress with the development of induced pluripotent stem cell differentiation protocols, made recapitulating the complexity of the human heart possible through the generation of cells representative of atrial & ventricular tissue, the sinoatrial node, atrioventricular node and Purkinje fibers. Current heart-on-a-chip approaches incorporate biological, electrical, mechanical, and topographical cues to facilitate tissue maturation, therefore improving the predictive power for the chamber-specific therapeutic effects targeting adult human. In this review, we will give a summary of current advances in heart-on-a-chip technology and provide a comprehensive outlook on the challenges involved in the development of human physiologically relevant heart-on-a-chip.

中文翻译：

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面向用于药物测试应用的腔室特定芯片心脏。

长期以来，人体器官建模一直是科学家们的一项任务，目的是降低治疗开发的成本并了解人类疾病的病理学发作。几十年来，尽管遗传学和病因学存在显着差异，但动物模型仍然是药物发现和疾病建模的标准。创新的生物制造技术促进了片上器官技术的发展，该技术具有补充传统动物模型的巨大潜力。然而，就其腔室特定方向和电功能复杂性而言，整个人体器官，更具体地说是人类心脏，很难在体外再生。诱导多能干细胞分化方案开发的最新进展，通过产生代表​​心房和心室组织、窦房结、房室结和浦肯野纤维的细胞，使概括人类心脏的复杂性成为可能。当前的芯片心脏方法结合了生物、电气、机械和地形线索，以促进组织成熟，从而提高针对成人的腔室特定治疗效果的预测能力。在这篇综述中，我们将总结心脏芯片技术的当前进展，并对开发人类生理相关芯片心脏所涉及的挑战提供全面的展望。电、机械和地形线索，以促进组织成熟，从而提高针对成年人的腔室特异性治疗效果的预测能力。在这篇综述中，我们将总结心脏芯片技术的当前进展，并对开发人类生理相关芯片心脏所涉及的挑战提供全面的展望。电、机械和地形线索，以促进组织成熟，从而提高针对成年人的腔室特异性治疗效果的预测能力。在这篇综述中，我们将总结心脏芯片技术的当前进展，并对开发人类生理相关芯片心脏所涉及的挑战提供全面的展望。