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Electrospun Nanofiber Scaffolds with Gradations in Fiber Organization
Published on: April 19, 2015
Electrospun Aligned Coaxial Nanofibrous Scaffold for Cardiac Repair
Divya Sridharan1,2, Arunkumar Palaniappan1,3, Britani N Blackstone4
1Department of Emergency Medicine, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, OH, USA.
Insights
Researchers developed a novel 3D scaffold using polycaprolactone and gelatin to improve stem cell survival for treating cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). This tissue engineering approach shows promise for cardiac repair and drug testing.
Area of Science:
- Biomaterials Science
- Regenerative Medicine
- Cardiovascular Research
Background:
- Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are a leading cause of global mortality.
- Current cell-based therapies for CVDs face challenges with cell survival and engraftment in the heart.
- Tissue engineering with 3D scaffolds offers a promising strategy for cardiac repair.
Purpose of the Study:
- To fabricate an aligned coaxial nanofibrous scaffold with a polycaprolactone (PCL) core and gelatin shell.
- To establish an efficient protocol for seeding and maintaining human-induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CMs) on the scaffold.
- To explore the potential of this system as a functional cardiac patch and an in vitro 3D cardiac tissue model.
Main Methods:
- Fabrication of aligned coaxial nanofibrous scaffolds using PCL and gelatin.
- Seeding and culturing of hiPSC-CMs on the developed scaffolds.
- Evaluation of cell survival, retention, and maintenance within the 3D scaffold structure.
Main Results:
- Successful fabrication of aligned coaxial nanofibrous scaffolds with PCL core and gelatin shell.
- Efficient seeding and maintenance of hiPSC-CMs on the scaffolds were achieved.
- The scaffold system demonstrated potential for generating functional cardiac tissue models.
Conclusions:
- Aligned coaxial nanofibrous scaffolds provide a viable platform for culturing hiPSC-CMs.
- This approach holds potential for myocardial repair via cardiac patches.
- The developed model can be utilized for in vitro assessment of cardiovascular drug efficacy and toxicity.
Abstract:
Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are one of the leading causes of mortality worldwide and a number one killer in the USA. Cell-based approaches to treat CVDs have only shown modest improvement due to poor survival, retention, and engraftment of the transplanted cells in the ischemic myocardium. Recently, tissue engineering and the use of 3D scaffolds for culturing and delivering stem cells for ischemic heart disease are gaining rapid potential. Here, we describe a protocol for the fabrication of aligned coaxial nanofibrous scaffold comprising of a polycaprolactone (PCL) core and gelatin shell. Furthermore, we describe a detailed protocol for the efficient seeding and maintenance of human-induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CMs) on these nanofibrous scaffolds, which could have a potential application in the generation of functional "cardiac patch" for myocardial repair applications as well as an in vitro 3D cardiac tissue model to evaluate the efficacy of cardiovascular drugs and cardiac toxicities.
