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Design of a Cyclic Pressure Bioreactor for the Ex Vivo Study of Aortic Heart Valves
Published on: August 23, 2011
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Non-physiologic Bioreactor Processing Conditions for Heart Valve Tissue Engineering
Mitchell C VeDepo1,2,3, Eric E Buse4, Arghya Paul5,6
1Cardiac Regenerative Surgery Research Laboratories of The Ward Family Heart Center, Children's Mercy Kansas City, 2401 Gillham Road, Kansas City, MO, 64108, USA. mitchell.vedepo@cuanschutz.edu.
Cardiovascular Engineering and Technology
|October 26, 2019
Summary
Hypoxia, not pressure, significantly enhanced cellular infiltration in tissue-engineered heart valves. Novel bioreactor conditions, including non-physiologic hypoxia, improve recellularization for future heart valve therapies.
Area of Science:
- Biomaterials Science
- Regenerative Medicine
- Cardiovascular Engineering
Background:
- Conventional methods for seeding decellularized heart valves show inconsistent cellular repopulation, especially in distal leaflets.
- Bioreactor conditioning mimicking physiologic parameters has limitations in achieving adequate cellular infiltration.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of non-intuitive bioreactor conditioning parameters on cellular infiltration and recellularization of engineered heart valves.
- To explore the effects of hypoxia and cyclic pressure variations on mesenchymal stem cell seeding in ovine aortic heart valves.
Main Methods:
- Ovine aortic heart valves were seeded with mesenchymal stem cells and cultured under four conditions: hypoxia/high pressure, normoxia/high pressure, hypoxia/negative pressure, and normoxia/negative pressure.
- Cellular density, phenotype, and biochemical concentrations were analyzed to assess recellularization efficacy.
Main Results:
- Hypoxic conditioning significantly increased cellular infiltration into the valve leaflets compared to normoxic conditions.
- Cyclic pressure parameters did not demonstrate a significant effect on the degree of recellularization.
- Protein expression analysis confirmed a consistent stem cell and valve interstitial cell phenotype across all groups.
Conclusions:
- Non-physiologic bioreactor conditioning, specifically hypoxia, can enhance in vitro recellularization of engineered heart valve leaflets.
- Investigating uncharacteristic culture conditions may offer benefits for tissue engineering and cell culture applications.
- These findings suggest that bioreactor parameters do not always need to mimic physiologic conditions for successful tissue engineering.
