Q45 — Vascularized Cardiac Tissue In Vitro

To create vascularised tissue in vitro, transgenic rat cardiac cells expressing luciferase were co-cultured with or without endothelial cells (EC) and fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF-2). Luciferase is an enzyme that catalyzes the reaction of luciferin to emit bioluminescent light. To mimic in vivo conditions, the newly created cardiac tissue was placed on a vascular bed to ensure a media supply (Figure 1A). Media supply through the new blood vessels was assessed via fluorescence antibody staining for EC (Figure 1B). Then, luciferin was infused from the vascular bed side, and bioluminescence was measured in the cardiac cells (Figure 1C).

Figure 1. A 1 - EC co-cultured cardiac cell sheet, 2 - cardiac cells, 3 - endothelial cells, 4 - layered cell sheets, 5 - cell sheets overlaid on a vascular bed, 6 - organised vascular network. B White arrows show EC; CS - cell sheet, VB - vascular bed. C X - Time (min), Y - Bioluminescence (photons per second).

On your answer sheet, indicate “T” for true statements and “F” for false ones.

Question reproduced from IBO 2024, Theoretical Exam Part A, licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 — attributed to the International Biology Olympiad. Open the full exam PDF · Community solutions (unofficial)