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Fabrication of Biologically Derived Injectable Materials for Myocardial Tissue Engineering
Published on: December 20, 2010
Photocrosslinkable microgels derived from human platelet lysates: injectable biomaterials for cardiac cell culture
Sara C Santos1, Catarina A Custódio1, João F Mano1
1Department of Chemistry, CICECO - Aveiro Institute of Materials, University of Aveiro, Portugal. catarinacustodio@ua.pt.
Insights
Methacryloyl platelet lysates (PLMA) microparticles offer a promising injectable solution for cardiac tissue repair. These xeno-free microcarriers effectively support cardiac and endothelial cell attachment for myocardial repair applications.
Area of Science:
- Biomaterials Science
- Regenerative Medicine
- Cardiovascular Research
Background:
- Cardiovascular diseases cause significant global morbidity and mortality.
- Myocardial ischemia (MI) leads to cardiomyocyte death and fibrotic scarring, impairing heart function.
- Injectable systems for *in situ* cell/molecule delivery are promising for myocardial tissue engineering.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop and evaluate methacryloyl platelet lysates (PLMA) microparticles (MPs) as injectable systems for cardiac tissue repair.
- To assess PLMA MPs' capacity to serve as cell microcarriers for cardiac and endothelial cells.
- To investigate the xeno-free potential of PLMA MPs in cell culture.
Main Methods:
- PLMA microparticles were produced using droplet microfluidics.
- Cell attachment properties of PLMA MPs were evaluated.
- The capacity of PLMA MPs to function as cell microcarriers was tested in culture media without animal-derived serum.
Main Results:
- PLMA MPs exhibited excellent properties for cell attachment.
- PLMA MPs successfully served as cell microcarriers for cardiac and endothelial cells.
- The cell-carrying capacity of PLMA MPs was demonstrated in xeno-free culture conditions.
Conclusions:
- PLMA microparticles are a viable biomaterial for creating injectable systems for myocardial repair.
- These xeno-free microcarriers support cardiac and endothelial cell attachment and function.
- PLMA MPs represent a promising approach for advancing cardiac tissue engineering.
Abstract:
Cardiovascular diseases are a major global cause of morbidity and mortality, and they are often characterized by cardiomyocytes dead that ultimately leads to myocardial ischemia (MI). This condition replaces functional cardiac tissue with fibrotic scar tissue compromising heart function. Injectable systems for the in situ delivery of cells or molecules to assist during tissue repair have emerged as promising approaches for tissue engineering, particularly for myocardial repair. Methacryloyl platelet lysates (PLMA) have been employed for constructing full human-based 3D cell culture matrices and demonstrated potential for xeno-free applications. In this study, we propose using PLMA to produce microparticles (MPs) serving as anchors for cardiac and endothelial cells and ultimately as injectable systems for cardiac tissue repair. The herein reported PLMA MPs were produced by droplet microfluidics and showed great properties for cell attachment. More importantly, it is possible to show the capacity of PLMA MPs to serve as cell microcarriers even in the absence of animal-derived serum supplementation in the culture media.
