title: Fiber-reinforced hydrogel scaffolds for heart valve tissue engineering.
abstract: Heart valve-related disorders are among the major causes of death worldwide. Although prosthetic valves are widely used to treat this pathology, current prosthetic grafts cannot grow with the patient while maintaining normal valve mechanical and hemodynamic properties. Tissue engineering may provide a possible solution to this issue through using biodegradable scaffolds and patients' own cells. Despite their similarity to heart valve tissue, most hydrogel scaffolds are not mechanically suitable for the dynamic stresses of the heart valve microenvironment. In this study, we integrated electrospun poly(glycerol sebacate) (PGS)-poly(ɛ-caprolactone) (PCL) microfiber scaffolds, which possess enhanced mechanical properties for heart valve engineering, within a hybrid hydrogel made from methacrylated hyaluronic acid and methacrylated gelatin. Sheep mitral valvular interstitial cells were encapsulated in the hydrogel and evaluated in hydrogel-only, PGS-PCL scaffold-only, and composite scaffold conditions. Although the cellular viability and metabolic activity were similar among all scaffold types, the presence of the hydrogel improved the three-dimensional distribution of mitral valvular interstitial cells. As seen by similar values in both the Young's modulus and the ultimate tensile strength between the PGS-PCL scaffolds and the composites, microfibrous scaffolds preserved their mechanical properties in the presence of the hydrogels. Compared to electrospun or hydrogel scaffolds alone, this combined system may provide a more suitable three-dimensional structure for generating scaffolds for heart valve tissue engineering.
authors.affiliation: Division of Biomedical Engineering, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, MA, USA Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA Department of Biology, Islamic Azad University, Science and Research Branch, Tehran, Iran alik@rics.bwh.harvard.edu maryam.eslami2010@gmail.com maryam.eslami2010@srbiau.ac.ir.
authors.forename: Maryam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Eslami
authors.affiliation: Division of Biomedical Engineering, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, MA, USA Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Nihal Engin
authors.initials: NE
authors.lastname: Vrana
authors.affiliation: Division of Biomedical Engineering, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, MA, USA Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA Biomedical Engineering Program and Mechanical Engineering Department, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA.
authors.forename: Pinar
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zorlutuna
authors.affiliation: Division of Biomedical Engineering, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, MA, USA Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, MA, USA Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences University of Pittsburgh, School of Pharmacy, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Shilpa
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sant
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Sungmi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jung
authors.affiliation: Division of Biomedical Engineering, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, MA, USA Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA Department of Bioengineering, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Nafiseh
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Masoumi
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Islamic Azad University, Science and Research Branch, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Ramazan Ali
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Khavari-Nejad
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Islamic Azad University, Science and Research Branch, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Gholamreza
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Javadi
authors.affiliation: Division of Biomedical Engineering, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, MA, USA Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, MA, USA alik@rics.bwh.harvard.edu maryam.eslami2010@gmail.com maryam.eslami2010@srbiau.ac.ir.
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Khademhosseini
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D006351:Heart Valves; D020100:Hydrogels; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D012756:Sheep; D023822:Tissue Engineering; D054457:Tissue Scaffolds
chemical_list: D020100:Hydrogels
keywords: Heart valve; composite; electrospun fiber; hydrogel; mechanical properties; tissue engineering