Soft matter guided self-assembly of oscillating heart cells into functional macro-myocardium (A18)

• Subject Area: Statistical Physics, Nonlinear Dynamics, Complex Systems, Soft and Fluid Matter, Biological Physics
• Term: from 2015 to 2019
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 178321814

Microscopically, cardiac tissue and engineered heart muscle consists of a network of coupled active (oscillating) and passive cells, i.e. cardiomyocytes and fibroblasts, embedded in an extracellular matrix providing viscoelastic mechanical coupling. The main objective of this project is to understand how the nonlinear dynamics of an ensemble of coupled electrical and mechanical cellular oscillators on the microscopic scale results in collective, complex spatio-temporal behavior on a macroscopic (tissue) scale. We will investigate this research question using high-resolution imaging and data driven numerical modeling applied to engineered heart muscles.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres
• Subproject of: SFB 937: Collective Behaviour of Soft and Biological Matter
• Applicant Institution: Georg-August-Universität Göttingen
• Co-Applicant Institution: Max-Planck-Institut für Dynamik und Selbstorganisation (MPIDS)
• Project Heads: Professor Dr. Stefan Luther; Professor Dr. Ulrich Parlitz; Professor Dr. Wolfram-Hubertus Zimmermann