Engineered Tissue Patch for Cardiac Cell Therapy

Cell therapy can be administered via injections delivered directly into the myocardium or as engineered cardiac tissue patches, which are the subject of this review. Engineered cardiac patches can be created from sheets of interconnected cells or by suspending the cells in a scaffold of material that is designed to mimic the native extracellular matrix. The sheet-based approach produces patches with well-aligned and electronically coupled cardiomyocytes, but cell-containing scaffolds are more readily vascularized by the host's circulatory system and, consequently, are currently more suitable for applications that require a thicker patch. Cell patches can also be modified for the co-delivery of peptides that may promote cell survival and activate endogenous repair mechanisms; nevertheless, techniques for controlling inflammation, limiting apoptosis, and improving vascular growth need continue to be developed to make it a therapeutic modality for patients with myocardial infarction.