The regulation of heart growth through the interaction of cell types, matrix molecules, and mechanical cues is poorly understood, yet is necessary for the heart to reach its proper size and function. Using mechanical load and vascular cell co-culture in combination with a tissue engineering approach, we have recently been able to generate organized human myocardium in vitro and to modulate cardiomyocyte alignment, proliferation, and hypertrophy within the engineered tissue construct; further, we measured contractile function and the force-length dependence of the engineered tissue as a whole. The goal of these studies has been to characterize in vitro models of human cardiac development and to work towards human therapeutics using organized, vascularized, contractile human cardiac tissue. This review will touch on the current state of knowledge in this field, give an overview of the results of our own recent findings, and present areas of active investigation and new directions for future research.
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