# Coordinated Heart Stimulation Testbed: A Platform for Contractile Ventricle Engineering

> **NIH NIH R01** · TEXAS HEART INSTITUTE · 2024 · $432,503

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Heart failure, the main clinical and public health problem, accounts for 13% of deaths in the US. Although
transplantation is currently the only therapy for end-stage heart failure, the availability and compatibility of donor
hearts cannot meet the clinical demand. Bioengineered whole hearts generated by using either 3D-printed or
native scaffolds hold promise to alleviate the donor organ shortage. However, efforts to build a functional
bioartificial heart chamber by using human-induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) are stymied by the immaturity
of hiPSC-derived cardiomyocytes. Reliable incubation systems that deliver physiologically mimetic stimulation
to train immature heart muscle cells and develop heart tissues are warranted. Without closing this technological
gap, cardiovascular tissue engineering will not advance to organ-level engineering, foreclosing the clinical and
discovery potential. The long-term goal of this research endeavor is to engineer a transplantable heart by using
human cells. In this Katz R01 grant, we propose a new research direction to address the long-standing need
for bioreactor cultivation and stimulation technologies completely reimagined for bioartificial organ engineering.
Our central hypothesis is that integrating the different maturation approaches in one automated platform will
achieve the physiologically relevant levels of function in bioengineered left ventricles. The objective is to
engineer a recellularized left ventricle with a physiologically significant ejection fraction through the integration
of mechanical, electrical, and metabolic stimuli: enable coordinated mechanical and electrical stimulation in a
recellularized left ventricle through a novel multiparametric bioreactor design (Aim 1) and develop a whole organ
media composition to support the increased metabolic demands of larger bioartificial left ventricles (Aim 2).
Based on our unparalleled experience in regenerative medicine, we will develop the coordinated heart
stimulation testbed (CHeST) combined with a novel artificial oxygen carrier and metabolic media
supplementation tailor-fitted to the biophysical, biochemical, and metabolic requirements of developing
contractile tissue. The expected deliverables of a contractile ventricle construct and multiparametric stimulation
bioreactor will vertically advance the field, providing essential novel contributions to the issues impairing cardiac
tissue engineering for generating bioengineered ventricles. Mechanistic discovery and bioengineering
improvements will abound as other investigators create stimulation training protocols for the heart and other
engineered organs. Thus the realization of this project will pave the way for a potential new wave of
breakthroughs in cardiac tissue engineering toward building a bioartificial heart.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10847481
- **Project number:** 5R01HL169632-02
- **Recipient organization:** TEXAS HEART INSTITUTE
- **Principal Investigator:** Camila Hochman-Mendez
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $432,503
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2023-06-01 → 2028-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10847481

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10847481, Coordinated Heart Stimulation Testbed: A Platform for Contractile Ventricle Engineering (5R01HL169632-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10847481. Licensed CC0.

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