3D Cardiac Constructs in Drug Discovery: Current Advances and Future Challenges

Advances in 3-dimensional (3D) cardiac constructs have provided powerful preclinical models for investigating the pathological mechanisms underlying human cardiovascular diseases and facilitating drug discovery. In this review, we focused on recent advancements in 3D cardiac constructs technology and explored its potential applications in drug development. We summarized the main types of disease models built on 3D cardiac constructs, the key parameters used for assessing pathology and drug efficacy, and their role in drug discovery. We also discussed the application of novel biomaterials in 3D cardiac constructs, the latest research progress in 3D cardiac constructs-based drug screening, and the transformative potential of artificial intelligence-assisted research on 3D cardiac constructs. Finally, we addressed the existing technical limitations and outline future directions for the development of 3D cardiac constructs.