Human cardiac organoids for disease modeling and drug discovery.

Abstract

Cardiac organoids are 3D self-assembling structures that recapitulate some of the functional, structural, and cellular aspects of the developing heart. Cardiac organoid modeling has overcome many of the limitations of current cardiac modeling systems by providing a human-relevant, multicellular, spatially advanced model that can replicate early key developmental stages of human cardiogenesis. Recent advancements in cardiac organoid modeling have enabled further understanding of cardiogenesis, cardiovascular disease, and drug-induced cardiotoxicity. Emerging tools to effectively characterize cardiac organoid models to understand their morphology, function, and cellular phenotype will enable further understanding of cardiac development, cardiovascular disease, and preclinical drug discovery.