Abstract
The autonomic nervous system is an important player in many cardiac disorders. However, the lack of a proper human model led to an elusive understanding of the molecular and functional mechanisms behind the autonomic control of the heart.
We successfully created an in vitro neurocardiac model system based on the co-culture of cardiomyocytes (CMs) and sympathetic neurons (SNs) derived by human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs).
The implementation of this co-culture system with patient hiPSCs can lead to a significant contribution in deciphering the role sympathetic neuronal activation in many disease, including not only cardiac disorders but also neurological conditions associated with cardiac autonomic dysfunction such as Parkinson’s disease and multiple system atrophy.