Human Cardiac Organoids to Model COVID-19 Cytokine Storm Induced Cardiac Injuries

Overview

Journal J Tissue Eng Regen Med

Specialties Anatomy & Histology
Biotechnology

Date 2022 Jun 11

PMID 35689600

Authors

Dimitrios C Arhontoulis

Charles M Kerr

Dylan Richards

Kelsey Tjen

Nathaniel Hyams

Jefferey A Jones

Kristine DeLeon-Pennell

Donald Menick

Hanna Brauninger

Diana Lindner

Dirk Westermann

Ying Mei

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Acute cardiac injuries occur in 20%-25% of hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Herein, we demonstrate that human cardiac organoids (hCOs) are a viable platform to model the cardiac injuries caused by COVID-19 hyperinflammation. As IL-1β is an upstream cytokine and a core COVID-19 signature cytokine, it was used to stimulate hCOs to induce the release of a milieu of proinflammatory cytokines that mirror the profile of COVID-19 cytokine storm. The IL-1β treated hCOs recapitulated transcriptomic, structural, and functional signatures of COVID-19 hearts. The comparison of IL-1β treated hCOs with cardiac tissue from COVID-19 autopsies illustrated the critical roles of hyper-inflammation in COVID-19 cardiac insults and indicated the cardioprotective effects of endothelium. The IL-1β treated hCOs thus provide a defined and robust model to assess the efficacy and potential side effects of immunomodulatory drugs, as well as the reversibility of COVID-19 cardiac injuries at baseline and simulated exercise conditions.

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