title: A novel composite scaffold for cardiac tissue engineering.
abstract: One approach to the engineering of functional cardiac tissue for basic studies and potential clinical use involves bioreactor cultivation of dissociated cells on a biomaterial scaffold. Our objective was to develop a scaffold that is (1) highly porous with large interconnected pores (to facilitate mass transport), (2) hydrophilic (to enhance cell attachment), (3) structurally stable (to withstand the shearing forces during bioreactor cultivation), (4) degradable (to provide ultimate biocompatibility of the tissue graft), and (5) elastic (to enable transmission of contractile forces). The scaffold of choice was made as a composite of poly(dl-lactide-co-caprolactone), poly(dl-lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA), and type I collagen, with open interconnected pores and the average void volume of 80 +/- 5%. Neonatal rat heart cells suspended in Matrigel were seeded into the scaffold at a physiologically high density (1.35 x 10(8) cells/cm(3)) and cultivated for 8 d in cartridges perfused with culture medium or in orbitally mixed dishes (25 rpm); collagen sponge (Ultrafoam) and PLGA sponge served as controls. Construct cellularity, presence of cardiac markers, and contractile properties were markedly improved in composite scaffolds as compared with both controls.
authors.affiliation: Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA.
authors.forename: Hyoungshin
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Milica
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Radisic
authors.forename: Jeong Ok
authors.initials: JO
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.forename: Bong Hyun
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Gordana
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Vunjak-Novakovic
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques; D024042:Collagen Type I / Q000378:metabolism; D018031:Connexin 43 / Q000378:metabolism; D006321:Heart; D006801:Humans; D019344:Lactic Acid / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D008422:Materials Testing; D009206:Myocardium / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D011100:Polyglycolic Acid / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D000077182:Polylactic Acid-Polyglycolic Acid Copolymer; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D016062:Porosity; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D019210:Troponin I / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D024042:Collagen Type I; D018031:Connexin 43; D011108:Polymers; D019210:Troponin I; D000077182:Polylactic Acid-Polyglycolic Acid Copolymer; D011100:Polyglycolic Acid; D019344:Lactic Acid