title: Electrical coupling of isolated cardiomyocyte clusters grown on aligned conductive nanofibrous meshes for their synchronized beating.
abstract: Myocardial infarction is often associated with abnormalities in electrical function due to a massive loss of functioning cardiomyocytes. This work develops a mesh, consisting of aligned composite nanofibers of polyaniline (PANI) and poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA), as an electrically active scaffold for coordinating the beatings of the cultured cardiomyocytes synchronously. Following doping by HCl, the electrospun fibers could be transformed into a conductive form carrying positive charges, which could then attract negatively charged adhesive proteins (i.e. fibronectin and laminin) and enhance cell adhesion. During incubation, the adhered cardiomyocytes became associated with each other and formed isolated cell clusters; the cells within each cluster elongated and aligned their morphology along the major axis of the fibrous mesh. After culture, expression of the gap-junction protein connexin 43 was clearly observed intercellularly in isolated clusters. All of the cardiomyocytes within each cluster beat synchronously, implying that the coupling between the cells was fully developed. Additionally, the beating rates among these isolated cell clusters could be synchronized via an electrical stimulation designed to imitate that generated in a native heart. Importantly, improving the impaired heart function depends on electrical coupling between the engrafted cells and the host myocardium to ensure their synchronized beating.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering and Institute of Biomedical Engineering, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu 30013, Taiwan, ROC.
authors.forename: Chun-Wen
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Hsiao
authors.forename: Meng-Yi
authors.initials: MY
authors.lastname: Bai
authors.forename: Yen
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Min-Fan
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Chung
authors.forename: Ting-Yin
authors.initials: TY
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Cheng-Tse
authors.initials: CT
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Barnali
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Maiti
authors.forename: Zi-Xian
authors.initials: ZX
authors.lastname: Liao
authors.forename: Ren-Ke
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Hsing-Wen
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: Sung
mesh_terms: D000200:Action Potentials / Q000502:physiology*; D000814:Aniline Compounds / Q000737:chemistry; D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000737:chemistry; D001683:Biological Clocks / Q000502:physiology*; D002450:Cell Communication / Q000502:physiology*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004553:Electric Conductivity; D019344:Lactic Acid / Q000737:chemistry; D008422:Materials Testing; D008968:Molecular Conformation; D032383:Myocytes, Cardiac / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D049329:Nanostructures / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D011100:Polyglycolic Acid / Q000737:chemistry; D000077182:Polylactic Acid-Polyglycolic Acid Copolymer; D051381:Rats; D011917:Rats, Inbred Lew; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000379:methods*; D054457:Tissue Scaffolds
chemical_list: D000814:Aniline Compounds; D001672:Biocompatible Materials; C416807:polyaniline; D000077182:Polylactic Acid-Polyglycolic Acid Copolymer; D011100:Polyglycolic Acid; D019344:Lactic Acid