TY  - JOUR
AU  - Streckfuss-Bömeke, Katrin
AU  - Zelarayán, Laura C
AU  - Schnabel, Renate B
AU  - Kränkel, Nicolle
AU  - Maack, Christoph
AU  - Eschenhagen, Thomas
AU  - Kappler, Hannah E
AU  - Klingmüller, Ursula
AU  - Kramann, Rafael
AU  - Loewe, Axel
AU  - Milting, Hendrik
AU  - Molina, Cristina E
AU  - Panáková, Daniela
AU  - Podesser, Bruno K
AU  - Schnieke, Angelika
AU  - Schröder, Katrin
AU  - Seidel, Thomas
AU  - Sossalla, Samuel
AU  - Zgierski-Johnston, Callum
AU  - Zimmermann, Wolfram-Hubertus
AU  - Rog-Zielinska, Eva A
AU  - Kohl, Peter
TI  - Models of the human heart for biomedical research: Opportunities and challenges.
JO  - Physiological reports
VL  - 14
IS  - 7
SN  - 2051-817X
CY  - [Erscheinungsort nicht ermittelbar]
PB  - Wiley
M1  - DZNE-2026-00382
SP  - e70845
PY  - 2026
AB  - Model systems that mimic human cardiac structure and function are essential for the development of novel diagnostics and effective treatments for cardiovascular diseases. While non-human vertebrate models, from zebrafish to pig, remain vital to cardiovascular research, the translatability of findings to human patients is often limited. Therefore, animal experiments should be supplemented with human model systems, including human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cells, 3D engineered constructs, and last but not least, native tissue preparations and isolated primary cardiomyocytes. However, while human myocardium remains the gold standard, human heart tissue - and particularly tissue from control hearts-remains scarce, and its use in research is generally restricted to settings where tissue has been excised from diseased or failing hearts. While it is in principle possible to use tissue from rejected non-failing donor hearts that cannot be transplanted, legal hurdles (e.g., in Germany) can restrict the use of non-transplanted donor organs in research. Given the challenges associated with accessing and using human tissue in biomedical research, an integrated strategy towards combining non-human vertebrate models, in silico models, and human tissue-derived models is recommended, enhancing the chances of successful research and development, and helping bridge the gap between preclinical and clinical research.
KW  - Humans
KW  - Biomedical Research: methods
KW  - Animals
KW  - Heart: physiology
KW  - Myocytes, Cardiac
KW  - Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells
KW  - animal models (Other)
KW  - donor tissue (Other)
KW  - human myocardium (Other)
KW  - stem cell models (Other)
KW  - vertebrate models (Other)
LB  - PUB:(DE-HGF)16
C6  - pmid:41954020
C2  - pmc:PMC13062934
DO  - DOI:10.14814/phy2.70845
UR  - https://pub.dzne.de/record/286086
ER  -