Adult cardiac myocytes survive and remain excitable during long-term culture on synthetic supports.
OBJECTIVE
Cardiomyocytes can be transplanted successfully into skeletal and cardiac muscle. Our goal was to determine the feasibility of grafting cardiomyocytes onto various synthetic supports to create an excitable and viable tissue for implantation.


METHODS
Adult rat cardiomyocytes were cultured over an 8-week period onto different substitutes, including human glutaraldehyde-treated pericardium (n = 3), equine glutaraldehyde-treated pericardium (n = 3), polytetrafluoroethylene (n = 8), Dacron polyester (n = 16), and Vicryl polyglactin (n = 8).


RESULTS
Only the cells seeded on the Dacron survived, with the synthetic fibers colonized at 8 weeks. On the other supports, the number of myocytes progressively decreased from the first week, with their density (number of cells per square millimeter) being, after 20 days, 17 +/- 2 on the polytetrafluoroethylene and 5 +/- 1 on the human or equine pericardium compared with 45 +/- 3 on the Dacron. After 8 weeks of culture on Dacron, the sarcomeric protein (sarcomeric alpha-actinin) was detected in all cells. In addition, the staining was regularly arranged and well aligned in a striated pattern. Spontaneous beating activity was obtained. Moreover, electrical stimulation of the cell preparation resulted in the generation of calcium transients, the frequency of which followed the frequency of the electrical stimulation.


CONCLUSIONS
These results suggest that adult cardiac myocytes remain viable and excitable during long-term culture on a 3-dimensional Dacron support, which might constitute a new synthetic cardiac tissue.
Department of Cardiac Surgery, Institut Mutualiste Montsouris, and Centre d'Expérimentation et de Recherche Appliquée, Paris, France. thierry.folliguet@imm.fr
T A
TA
Folliguet
C
C
Rücker-Martin
C
C
Pavoine
E
E
Deroubaix
M
M
Henaff
J J
JJ
Mercadier
S N
SN
Hatem
D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D002470:Cell Survival; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D046508:Culture Techniques; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D009206:Myocardium / Q000166:cytology*; D011093:Polyethylene Terephthalates; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar
D011093:Polyethylene Terephthalates