Cardiac Organoids: A 3D Technology for Modeling Heart Development and Disease

Cardiac organoids (COs) are miniaturized and simplified organ structures that can be used in heart development biology, drug screening, disease modeling, and regenerative medicine. This cardiac organoid (CO) model is revolutionizing our perspective on answering major cardiac physiology and pathology issues. Recently, many research groups have reported various methods for modeling the heart in vitro. However, there are differences in methodologies and concepts. In this review, we discuss the recent advances in cardiac organoid technologies derived from human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) and human-induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs), with a focus on the summary of methods for organoid generation. In addition, we introduce CO applications in modeling heart development and cardiovascular diseases and discuss the prospects for and common challenges of CO that still need to be addressed. A detailed understanding of the development of CO will help us design better methods, explore and expand its application in the cardiovascular field. Graphical abstract