부산대학교 도서관

A conventional two-dimensional cell sheet of human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes lying on microelectrode array probes has been employed to estimate their excitation-conduction properties. By applying local electric stimuli on the cell sheet, the proarrhythmic and antiarrhythmic profiles of a drug can be systematically evaluated. Drug-induced changes in contraction-relaxation motion can also be evaluated using the cell sheet. Namely, a physiological property called “positive contraction velocity-frequency relationship” can be developed in the cell sheet by initiating the excitation, contraction, and relaxation in the same area. In order to fully elicit the contractile motion of the cell sheet, it is essential to set the stimulation sites around the maximum relaxation region to overcome its physical limitation due to lying on the plastic probe ; i.e., the center of the cell sheet is stretched toward its peripheral area. This finding may suggest that cardiac resynchronization therapy can be further improved by adopting the currently described new concept of cardiac pacing with monitoring of ventricular motion.