Cardiomyocytes form an electrically coupled syncytium, enabling synchronized action potential wavefronts. Optogenetics facilitates the study of cardiac excitation wavefronts in vivo and in vitro.
We demonstrate a laser-optical system utilizing computer-generated holograms to stimulate and inhibit light-sensitive human stem-cell-derived cardiomyocytes, allowing e.g. non-destructive modeling of myocardial scarring and exctiation wavefront control.
With rapid frame rates upt to 1.7 kHz, our system spatially positions multiple foci or complex illumination patterns, achieving defined 3D-distributed excitation wavefronts for quickly changing stimulation protocols. High-speed video microscopy assesses contractions in samples.
We show successful coupling of cardiomyocyte contraction to optical stimulation and stimulation-wavefront shape-dependencies, paving the way for patient-specific disease modeling using multi-photong holographic light shaping and red-shifted opsins in 3D cardiac organoids.
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