| Summary: | Interactions along the neuro-cardiac axis are being explored with regard to their
involvement in cardiac diseases, including catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular
tachycardia, hypertension, atrial fibrillation, long QT syndrome, and sudden death in epilepsy.
Interrogation of the pathophysiology and pathogenesis of neuro-cardiac diseases in animal
models present challenges resulting from species differences, phenotypic variation,
developmental effects, and limited availability of data relevant at both the tissue and cellular
level. In contrast, tissue engineered models containing cardiomyocytes and peripheral
sympathetic and parasympathetic neurons afford characterization of cellular and tissue level
behaviours whilst maintaining precise control over developmental conditions, cellular
genotype and phenotype. Such approaches are uniquely suited to long term, high-throughput
characterization utilising optical recording techniques with the potential for increased
translational benefit compared to more established techniques. Furthermore, tissue
engineered constructs provide an intermediary between whole animal/tissue experiments
and in silico models. This paper reviews the advantages of tissue engineering methods of
multiple cell types and optical imaging techniques for the characterization of neuro-cardiac
diseases.
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