A modular platform to generate functional sympathetic neuron-innervated heart assembloids

Abstract

Abstract The technology of human pluripotent stem cell (hPSC)-based 3D organoid/assembloid cultures has become a powerful tool for the study of human embryonic development, disease modeling and drug discovery in recent years. The autonomic sympathetic nervous system innervates and regulates almost all organs in the body, including the heart. Yet, most reported organoids to date are not innervated, thus lacking proper neural regulation, and hindering reciprocal tissue maturation. Here, we developed a simple and versatile sympathetic neuron (symN)-innervated cardiac assembloid without the need for bioengineering. Our human sympathetic cardiac assembloids (hSCAs) showed mature muscle structures, atrial to ventricular patterning, and spontaneous beating. hSCA-innervating symNs displayed neurotransmitter synthesis and functional regulation of the cardiac beating rate, which could be manipulated pharmacologically or optogenetically. We modeled symN-mediated cardiac development and myocardial infarction. This hSCAs provides a tool for future neurocardiotoxicity screening approaches and is highly versatile and modular, where the types of neuron (symN or parasympathetic or sensory neuron) and organoid (heart, lung, kidney) to be innervated may be interchanged.