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Updated: Jul 7, 2025
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Combining 3D-Printing and Electrospinning to Manufacture Biomimetic Heart Valve Leaflets
Published on: March 23, 2022
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Producing and Testing Prototype Tissue-Engineered 3D Tri-Leaflet Valved Stents on Biodegradable Poly-ε-Caprolactone
Georg Lutter1,2, Nina Sophie Pommert1,2, Xiling Zhang1,2
1Department of Cardiac Surgery, University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein (UKSH), 24105 Kiel, Germany.
International Journal of Molecular Sciences
|December 23, 2023
Summary
Biodegradable scaffolds seeded with various cells successfully created tissue-engineered pulmonary valves. These novel valves show high cell coverage, offering a promising future therapeutic option for heart conditions.
Area of Science:
- Biomaterials Science
- Tissue Engineering
- Cardiovascular Research
Background:
- Transcatheter pulmonary valve replacement is an evolving minimally-invasive treatment for right ventricular outflow tract dysfunction.
- Current prosthetic heart valves have significant limitations, highlighting the need for advanced alternatives.
- Tissue-engineered pulmonary valves represent a significant future challenge and opportunity.
Purpose of the Study:
- To generate 3D tissue-engineered tri-leaflet valved stent grafts using biodegradable poly-ε-caprolactone (PCL) nanofiber scaffolds.
- To evaluate the seeding, proliferation, and distribution of human endothelial colony-forming cells (ECFCs), human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived MSCs (hMSCs), and porcine MSCs (pMSCs) on these scaffolds.
Main Methods:
- Biodegradable PCL nanofiber scaffolds were fabricated into 3D leaflet matrices.
- Scaffolds were seeded with ECFCs, hMSCs, and pMSCs and cultured for three weeks.
- Cell adhesion, proliferation, and distribution were analyzed using fluorescence microscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM).
Main Results:
- All tested cell lineages demonstrated increased overgrown leaflet area over the three-week culture period.
- hMSCs exhibited consistent growth, while ECFCs showed a delayed growth spurt between weeks 2 and 3.
- Over 90% leaflet coverage was achieved with all cell types after three weeks, irrespective of the cell lineage.
Conclusions:
- Biodegradable PCL nanofiber scaffolds can be successfully seeded with various human and porcine cells to create tissue-engineered heart valve leaflets.
- The generated tissue-engineered leaflets show excellent cell coverage, indicating their potential for functional valve development.
- Seeded PCL scaffolds integrated into nitinol or biodegradable stents present a promising future therapeutic option for pulmonary valve replacement.
