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Carbon-nanotube-embedded hydrogel sheets for engineering cardiac constructs and bioactuators
Su Ryon Shin1, Sung Mi Jung, Momen Zalabany
1Center for Biomedical Engineering, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 65 Landsdowne Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, United States.
ACS Nano
|February 1, 2013
Summary
Functional cardiac patches were created using carbon nanotube (CNT)-GelMA hydrogels. These engineered tissues exhibit enhanced beating rates, electrical properties, and resilience, paving the way for advanced cardiac tissue engineering.
Area of Science:
- Biomaterials Science
- Tissue Engineering
- Cardiovascular Research
Background:
- Developing functional cardiac tissue requires scaffolds that mimic the native heart's electrical and mechanical properties.
- Gelatin methacrylate (GelMA) hydrogels offer biocompatibility but lack inherent electrical conductivity.
- Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are highly conductive nanomaterials with potential to enhance biomaterial functionality.
Purpose of the Study:
- To engineer functional cardiac patches using CNT-incorporated GelMA hydrogels.
- To evaluate the impact of CNTs on cardiomyocyte behavior, tissue electrophysiology, and mechanical integrity.
- To assess the potential of these constructs as 3D biohybrid actuators and for drug screening.
Main Methods:
- Neonatal rat cardiomyocytes were seeded onto photo-cross-linkable GelMA hydrogels with incorporated CNTs.
- Fabrication of centimeter-scale cardiac patches and their characterization as 3D biohybrid actuators.
- Assessment of cardiac tissue beating rates, excitation thresholds, cell adhesion, and resistance to chemical damage.
Main Results:
- CNT-GelMA hydrogels supported enhanced cardiomyocyte adhesion, organization, and cell-cell coupling.
- Cardiac constructs on CNT-GelMA exhibited significantly higher beating rates and lower excitation thresholds compared to pristine GelMA.
- Centimeter-scale patches functioned as controllable 3D biohybrid actuators and demonstrated resistance to cardiac inhibitors and cytotoxic compounds.
Conclusions:
- Incorporating CNTs into GelMA hydrogels significantly improves cardiac tissue function and mechanical properties.
- CNT-GelMA hydrogels are promising scaffolds for cardiac tissue engineering, therapeutic applications, and in vitro studies.
- This approach could be extended to engineer other electrically active tissues like neurons and muscle cells.
