title: Bioluminescence imaging for assessment of immune responses following implantation of engineered heart tissue (EHT).
abstract: Various techniques of cardiac tissue engineering have been pursued in the past decades including scaffolding strategies using either native or bioartificial scaffold materials, entrapment of cardiac myocytes in hydrogels such as fibrin or collagen and stacking of myocyte monolayers. These concepts aim at restoration of compromised cardiac function (e.g. after myocardial infarction) or as experimental models (e.g. predictive toxicology and substance screening or disease modelling). Precise monitoring of cell survival after implantation of engineered heart tissue (EHT) has now become possible using in-vivo bioluminescence imaging (BLI) techniques. Here we describe the generation of fibrin-based EHT from a transgenic rat strain with ubiquitous expression of firefly luciferase (ROSA/luciferase-LEW Tg; ). Implantation is performed into the greater omentum of different rat strains to assess immune responses of the recipient organism following EHT implantation. Comparison of results generated by BLI and the Enzyme Linked Immuno Spot Technique (ELISPOT) confirm the usability of BLI for the assessment of immune responses.
authors.affiliation: Transplant and Stem Cell Immunobiology Lab and CVRC, University Hospital Hamburg, University Heart Center Hamburg.
authors.forename: Lenard
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Conradi
authors.forename: Christiane
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pahrmann
authors.forename: Stephanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Schmidt
authors.forename: Tobias
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Deuse
authors.forename: Arne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hansen
authors.forename: Alexandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Eder
authors.forename: Hermann
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Reichenspurner
authors.forename: Robert C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Robbins
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Eschenhagen
authors.forename: Sonja
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Schrepfer
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005337:Fibrin / Q000737:chemistry; D016027:Heart Transplantation / Q000379:methods*; D049409:Luciferases, Firefly / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics; D008163:Luminescent Measurements / Q000379:methods*; D032342:Muscle Cells / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology / Q000637:transplantation; D009206:Myocardium / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D055647:Rats, Transgenic; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000379:methods*; D016378:Tissue Transplantation / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D005337:Fibrin; D049409:Luciferases, Firefly