Cardiac Microchamber

Researchers at UC Berkeley and Gladstone Institutes have shown that human induced pluripotent stem cells can differentiate and self-organize into cardiac microchambers when spatially confined. The center (red) shows heart muscle cells while the perimeter (green ring) shows a type of connective tissue that attaches to the surface and holds the microchamber to the culture dish. The cardiac microchambers can be used to study the toxicity of drugs that affect early human heart development. Video by Zhen Ma, U