Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 28, 2026
A Multi-Cue Bioreactor to Evaluate the Inflammatory and Regenerative Capacity of Biomaterials under Flow and Stretch
Published on: December 10, 2020
Design and testing of a cyclic stretch and flexure bioreactor for evaluating engineered heart valve tissues based on
Nafiseh Masoumi1, M Christian Howell1, Katherine L Johnson1
1Department of Bioengineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA.
Abstract:
Cyclic flexure and stretch are essential to the function of semilunar heart valves and have demonstrated utility in mechanically conditioning tissue-engineered heart valves. In this study, a cyclic stretch and flexure bioreactor was designed and tested in the context of the bioresorbable elastomer poly(glycerol sebacate). Solid poly(glycerol sebacate) membranes were subjected to cyclic stretch, and micromolded poly(glycerol sebacate) scaffolds seeded with porcine aortic valvular interstitial cells were subjected to cyclic stretch and flexure. The results demonstrated significant effects of cyclic stretch on poly(glycerol sebacate) mechanical properties, including significant decreases in effective stiffness versus controls. In valvular interstitial cell-seeded scaffolds, cyclic stretch elicited significant increases in DNA and collagen content that paralleled maintenance of effective stiffness. This work provides a basis for investigating the roles of mechanical loading in the formation of tissue-engineered heart valves based on elastomeric scaffolds.
