Application of plasma polymerized pyrrole nanoparticles to prevent or reduce de-differentiation of adult rat ventricular cardiomyocytes

Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death in the world, cell therapies have been shown to recover cardiac function in animal models. Biomaterials used as scaffolds can solve some of the problems that cell therapies currently have, plasma polymerized pyrrole (PPPy) is a biomaterial that has been shown to promote cell adhesion and survival. The present research aimed to study PPPy nanoparticles (PPPyN) interaction with adult rat ventricular cardiomyocytes (ARVC), to explore whether PPPyN could be employed as a nanoscaffold and develop cardiac microtissues. PPPyN with a mean diameter of 330 nm were obtained, the infrared spectrum showed that some pyrrole rings are fragmented and that some fragments of the ring can be dehydrogenated during plasma synthesis, it also showed the presence of amino groups in the structure of PPPyN. PPPyN had a significant impact on the ARVC´s shape, delaying dedifferentiation, necrosis, and apoptosis processes, moreover, the cardiomyocytes formed cell aggregates up to 1.12 mm2 with some aligned cardiomyocytes and generated fibers on its surface similar to cardiac extracellular matrix. PPPyN served as a scaffold for adult ARVC. Our results indicate that PPPyN-scaffold is a biomaterial that could have potential application in cardiac cell therapy (CCT).

Cardiac Cell Therapy for Heart Repair: Should the Cells Be Left Out?

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is still the leading cause of death worldwide. Coronary arteryocclusion, or myocardial infarction (MI) causes massive loss of cardiomyocytes. The ischemia areais eventually replaced by a fibrotic scar. From the mechanical dysfunctions of the scar in electronictransduction, contraction and compliance, pathological cardiac dilation and heart failure develops.Once end-stage heart failure occurs, the only option is to perform heart transplantation. The sequentialchanges are termed cardiac remodeling, and are due to the lack of endogenous regenerativeactions in the adult human heart. Regenerative medicine and biomedical engineering strategies havebeen pursued to repair the damaged heart and to restore normal cardiac function. Such strategiesinclude both cellular and acellular products, in combination with biomaterials. In addition, substantialprogress has been made to elucidate the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying heartrepair and regeneration. In this review, we summarize and discuss current therapeutic approachesfor cardiac repair and provide a perspective on novel strategies that holding potential opportunitiesfor future research and clinical translation.

Cardiac Cell Therapy: Insights into the Mechanisms of Tissue Repair

Stem cell-based cardiac therapies have been extensively studied in recent years. However, the efficacy of cell delivery, engraftment, and differentiation post-transplant remain continuous challenges and represent opportunities to further refine our current strategies. Despite limited long-term cardiac retention, stem cell treatment leads to sustained cardiac benefit following myocardial infarction (MI). This review summarizes the current knowledge on stem cell based cardiac immunomodulation by highlighting the cellular and molecular mechanisms of different immune responses to mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and their secretory factors. This review also addresses the clinical evidence in the field.

Injectable Hydrogels for Improving Cardiac Cell Therapy—In Vivo Evidence and Translational Challenges

Cell therapy has the potential to regenerate cardiac tissue and treat a variety of cardiac diseases which are currently without effective treatment. This novel approach to treatment has demonstrated clinical efficiency, despite low retention of the cell products in the heart. It has been shown that improving retention often leads to improved functional outcome. A feasible method of improving cell graft retention is administration of injectable hydrogels. Over the last decade, a variety of injectable hydrogels have been investigated preclinically for their potential to improve the effects of cardiac cell therapy. These hydrogels are created with different polymers, properties, and additional functional motifs and differ in their approaches for encapsulating different cell types. Only one combinational therapy has been tested in a clinical randomized controlled trial. In this review, the latest research on the potential of injectable hydrogels for delivery of cell therapy is discussed, together with potential roadblocks for clinical translation and recommendations for future explorations to facilitate future translation.