RG Drakhlis (Junior Research Group)
Our junior research group focuses on human pluripotent stem cell (hPSC)-derived heart-forming organoids (HFOs), which model heart, vasculature and foregut co-development.
In response to proper stimuli, hPSCs can self-organize into organoids, which better resemble the complexity of native tissue development, composition, morphology, and function compared to conventional cell culture approaches. The organoid technology can be used for a broad range of basic and translational research applications including developmental biology and disease modeling. While organoid models have been described for a broad range of tissues, they often resemble single tissues, only. However, since diseases and pharmacological treatments usually affect multiple organs simultaneously, single-tissue organoids show limitations. Tackling this issue, HFOs represent a multi-tissue organoid model recapitulating the native co-development of heart, vasculature and foregut endoderm in a highly organized and robust way. Our current research focuses on advancing the HFOs to derive a broad range of complex multi-tissue organoids for sophisticated development and disease modeling, deciphering (patho-)physiological mechanisms and replacing animal experiments.
Current group members
Felix Kleemiß, PhD student (shared with RG Zweigerdt)
Amelie Scheper, PhD student (shared with RG Zweigerdt)
Lea Stroker, Master student (six-week intern)
Past group members
Lars Leonhardt, Master student (six-week intern)
Publications:
2025
Komorowski K, Reichmann J, Drakhlis L, Zweigerdt R, Salditt T. 3D histology of human heart-forming organoids by X-ray phase-contrast tomography. Commun Biol 2025: 1411.
2024
Dardano M, Kleemiß F, Kosanke M, Lang D, Wilson L, Franke A, Teske J, Shivaraj A, de la Roche J, Fischer M, Lange L, Schambach A, Drakhlis L, Zweigerdt R. Blood-generating heart-forming organoids recapitulate co-development of the human haematopoietic system and the embryonic heart. Nat Cell Biol. 2024: 1984-1996.
Bolesani E, Bornhorst D, Iyer LM, Zawada D, Friese N, Morgan M, Lange L, Gonzalez DM, Schrode N, Leffler A, Wunder J, Franke A, Drakhlis L, Sebra R, Schambach A, Goedel A, Dubois NC, Dobreva G, Moretti A, Zelaráyan LC, Abdelilah-Seyfried S, Zweigerdt R. Transient stabilization of human cardiovascular progenitor cells from human pluripotent stem cells in vitro reflects stage-specific heart development in vivo. Cardiovasc Res.: 1295-1311.
Kriedemann N, Triebert W, Teske J, Mertens M, Franke A, Ullmann K, Manstein F, Drakhlis L, Haase A, Halloin C, Martin U, Zweigerdt R. Standardized production of hPSC-derived cardiomyocyte aggregates in stirred spinner flasks. Nat Protoc. 2024: 1911-1939.
2023
Drakhlis L, Zweigerdt R. Heart in a dish - choosing the right in vitro model. Did Model Mech 2023: 16.
2022
Gonzalez DM, Schrode N, Ebrahim TAM, Broguiere N, Rossi G, Drakhlis L, Zweigerdt R, Lutolf MP, Beaumont KG, Sebra R, Dubois NC. Dissecting mechanisms of chamber-specific cardiac differentiation and its perturbation following retinoic acid exposure. Development 2022: 149.
2021
Drakhlis L, Biswanath S, Farr CM, Lupanow V, Teske J, Ritzenhoff K, Franke A, Manstein F, Bolesani E, Kempf H, Liebscher S, Schenke-Layland K, Hegermann J, Nolte L, Meyer H, de la Roche J, Thiemann S, Wahl-Schott C, Martin U, Zweigerdt R. Human heart-forming organoids recapitulate early heart and foregut development. Nat Biotechnol. 2021:727-746.
Drakhlis L, Devadas SB, Zweigerdt R. Generation of heart-forming organoids from human pluripotent stem cells. Nat Protoc. 2021: 5652-5672.