A collage of images related to living Myocardial slices
The Workshop will provide participants with all the necessary knowledge and practical skill to implement this technique in their own laboratories. 
Living Myocardial Slices (LMSs) are a novel preparation of intermediate complexity that can be used to study heart biology. LMSs possess complex 3D structure, heterocellularity and intact extracellular matrix that makes them ideal for functional and structural studies. LMSs can be prepared from several species, including human. Multiple slices can be produced from each biopsy, producing several samples for experimentation (Camelliti et al., 2011; Nunez-Toldra et al., 2023, 2022; Pitoulis et al., 2020; van der Geest et al., 2025; Watson et al., 2019, 2017). LMS are highly viable, stable in culture and can be used for toxicology and pharmacology experiments, to study pathophysiology and treatments for cardiac disease. While LMSs are prepared by a straightforward method – simple mechanical dissociation using a vibrating microtome, several essential details contribute to the quality and viability, and this explains the variability of results in different laboratories. This workshop will discuss the LMS method in the context of other myocardial in-vitro models, highlighting strengths and limitations of the technique, demonstrating the preparation of this model and offering the participants a hands-on opportunity to learn this technique. 

The workshop will take place on the 20th – 21st of November, at the Imperial College London, National Heart and Lung Institute, Hammersmith Campus. The first day will entail a series of lectures detailing an overview of the LMS method, interrogation approaches, culturing, stimulating and biochemical analyses, followed by a practical demonstration of the method. The second day will provide a hands-on opportunity for every workshop attendee to individually complete LMS preparation and data collection. This will mean the time the workshop ends will vary; we can be flexible and ensure all attendees with a time constraint (flights for example) will complete the method before their deadline. We will meet at 10:00am on both days, and food and drink will be provided throughout.

If you have any queries, please contact Sam Reitemeier (s.reitemeier@imperial.ac.uk) who will be happy to describe the workshop in more detail. 

 

Fee: £140 Academic, £280 Industry. 

Deadline: 10th November 2025.

 

Camelliti, P., Al-Saud, S.A., Smolenski, R.T., Al-Ayoubi, S., Bussek, A., Wettwer, E., Banner, N.R., Bowles, C.T., Yacoub, M.H., Terracciano, C.M., 2011. Adult human heart slices are a multicellular system suitable for electrophysiological and pharmacological studies. Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology 51, 390–398. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yjmcc.2011.06.018

Nunez-Toldra, R., Del Canizo, A., Secco, I., Nicastro, L., Giacca, M., Terracciano, C.M., 2023. Living myocardial slices for the study of nucleic acid-based therapies. Front Bioeng Biotechnol 11, 1275945. https://doi.org/10.3389/fbioe.2023.1275945

Nunez-Toldra, R., Kirwin, T., Ferraro, E., Pitoulis, F.G., Nicastro, L., Bardi, I., Kit-Anan, W., Gorelik, J., Simon, A.R., Terracciano, C.M., 2022. Mechanosensitive molecular mechanisms of myocardial fibrosis in living myocardial slices. ESC Heart Fail 9, 1400–1412. https://doi.org/10.1002/ehf2.13832

Pitoulis, F.G., Watson, S.A., Perbellini, F., Terracciano, C.M., 2020. Myocardial slices come to age: an intermediate complexity in vitro cardiac model for translational research. Cardiovascular Research 116, 1275–1287. https://doi.org/10.1093/cvr/cvz341

van der Geest, J.S.A., de Boer, T.P., Terracciano, C.M., Thum, T., Dendorfer, A., Doevendans, P.A., van Laake, L.W., Sluijter, J.P.G., Sampaio-Pinto, V., 2025. Living myocardial slices: walking the path towards standardization. Cardiovasc Res cvaf079. https://doi.org/10.1093/cvr/cvaf079

Watson, S.A., Scigliano, M., Bardi, I., Ascione, R., Terracciano, C.M., Perbellini, F., 2017. Preparation of viable adult ventricular myocardial slices from large and small mammals. Nat Protoc 12, 2623–2639. https://doi.org/10.1038/nprot.2017.139

Watson, S.A., Terracciano, C.M., Perbellini, F., 2019. Myocardial Slices: an Intermediate Complexity Platform for Translational Cardiovascular Research. Cardiovasc Drugs Ther 33, 239–244. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10557-019-06853-5

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