Poly(ε-caprolactone)/poly(glycerol sebacate) electrospun scaffolds for cardiac tissue engineering using benign solvents

Myocardial infarction (MI) is the consequence of coronary artery thrombosis resulting in ischemia and necrosis of the myocardium. As a result, billions of contractile cardiomyocytes are lost with poor innate regeneration capability. This degenerated tissue is replaced by collagen-rich fibrotic scar tissue as the usual body response to quickly repair the injury. The non-conductive nature of this tissue results in arrhythmias and asynchronous beating leading to total heart failure in the long run due to ventricular remodelling. Traditional pharmacological and assistive device approaches have failed to meet the utmost need for tissue regeneration to repair MI injuries. Engineered heart tissues (EHTs) seem promising alternatives, but their non-conductive nature could not resolve problems such as arrhythmias and asynchronous beating for long term in-vivo applications. The ability of nanotechnology to mimic the nano-bioarchitecture of the extracellular matrix and the potential of cardiac tissue engineering to engineer heart-like tissues makes it a unique combination to develop conductive constructs. Biomaterials blended with conductive nanomaterials could yield conductive constructs (referred to as extrinsically conductive). These cell-laden conductive constructs can alleviate cardiac functions when implanted in-vivo. A succinct review of the most promising applications of nanomaterials in cardiac tissue engineering to repair MI injuries is presented with a focus on extrinsically conductive nanomaterials.

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Designing of spider silk proteins for hiPSC-based cardiac tissue engineering

Materials Today Bio ◽

10.1016/j.mtbio.2021.100114 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 100114

Author(s):

Tilman U. Esser ◽

Vanessa T. Trossmann ◽

Sarah Lentz ◽

Felix B. Engel ◽

Thomas Scheibel

Keyword(s):

Tissue Engineering ◽

Spider Silk ◽

Cardiac Tissue ◽

Cardiac Tissue Engineering ◽

Silk Proteins

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Cardiac Organoids to Model and Heal Heart Failure and Cardiomyopathies

Biomedicines ◽

10.3390/biomedicines9050563 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 (5) ◽

pp. 563

Author(s):

Magali Seguret ◽

Eva Vermersch ◽

Charlène Jouve ◽

Jean-Sébastien Hulot

Keyword(s):

Tissue Engineering ◽

Drug Testing ◽

Cardiac Tissue ◽

Cardiac Tissue Engineering ◽

Cardiac Cells ◽

Cardiac Functions ◽

Different Types ◽

Recent Developments ◽

Human Cardiac Tissue ◽

Key Aspects

Cardiac tissue engineering aims at creating contractile structures that can optimally reproduce the features of human cardiac tissue. These constructs are becoming valuable tools to model some of the cardiac functions, to set preclinical platforms for drug testing, or to alternatively be used as therapies for cardiac repair approaches. Most of the recent developments in cardiac tissue engineering have been made possible by important advances regarding the efficient generation of cardiac cells from pluripotent stem cells and the use of novel biomaterials and microfabrication methods. Different combinations of cells, biomaterials, scaffolds, and geometries are however possible, which results in different types of structures with gradual complexities and abilities to mimic the native cardiac tissue. Here, we intend to cover key aspects of tissue engineering applied to cardiology and the consequent development of cardiac organoids. This review presents various facets of the construction of human cardiac 3D constructs, from the choice of the components to their patterning, the final geometry of generated tissues, and the subsequent readouts and applications to model and treat cardiac diseases.

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