title: Tough and flexible CNT-polymeric hybrid scaffolds for engineering cardiac constructs.
abstract: In the past few years, a considerable amount of effort has been devoted toward the development of biomimetic scaffolds for cardiac tissue engineering. However, most of the previous scaffolds have been electrically insulating or lacked the structural and mechanical robustness to engineer cardiac tissue constructs with suitable electrophysiological functions. Here, we developed tough and flexible hybrid scaffolds with enhanced electrical properties composed of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) embedded aligned poly(glycerol sebacate):gelatin (PG) electrospun nanofibers. Incorporation of varying concentrations of CNTs from 0 to 1.5% within the PG nanofibrous scaffolds (CNT-PG scaffolds) notably enhanced fiber alignment and improved the electrical conductivity and toughness of the scaffolds while maintaining the viability, retention, alignment, and contractile activities of cardiomyocytes (CMs) seeded on the scaffolds. The resulting CNT-PG scaffolds resulted in stronger spontaneous and synchronous beating behavior (3.5-fold lower excitation threshold and 2.8-fold higher maximum capture rate) compared to those cultured on PG scaffold. Overall, our findings demonstrated that aligned CNT-PG scaffold exhibited superior mechanical properties with enhanced CM beating properties. It is envisioned that the proposed hybrid scaffolds can be useful for generating cardiac tissue constructs with improved organization and maturation.
authors.affiliation: Biomaterials Innovation Research Center, Division of Biomedical Engineering, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Woman's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02139, USA; Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA; Biomaterials Research Group, Department of Materials Engineering, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan, 8415683111, Iran.
authors.forename: Mahshid
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kharaziha
authors.affiliation: Biomaterials Innovation Research Center, Division of Biomedical Engineering, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Woman's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02139, USA; Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA; Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
authors.forename: Su Ryon
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Shin
authors.affiliation: Biomaterials Innovation Research Center, Division of Biomedical Engineering, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Woman's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02139, USA; Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
authors.forename: Mehdi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nikkhah
authors.affiliation: Biomaterials Innovation Research Center, Division of Biomedical Engineering, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Woman's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02139, USA; Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA; Ege University, Faculty of Pharmacy, Department of Analytical Chemistry, Izmir, TR-35100 Turkey.
authors.forename: Seda Nur
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Topkaya
authors.affiliation: Biomaterials Innovation Research Center, Division of Biomedical Engineering, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Woman's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02139, USA; Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
authors.forename: Nafiseh
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Masoumi
authors.affiliation: Biomaterials Innovation Research Center, Division of Biomedical Engineering, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Woman's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02139, USA; Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA; Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
authors.forename: Nasim
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Annabi
authors.affiliation: Biomaterials Innovation Research Center, Division of Biomedical Engineering, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Woman's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02139, USA; Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA; Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
authors.forename: Mehmet R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Dokmeci
authors.affiliation: Biomaterials Innovation Research Center, Division of Biomedical Engineering, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Woman's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02139, USA; Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA; Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Department of Maxillofacial Biomedical Engineering and Institute of Oral Biology, School of Dentistry, Kyung Hee University, Seoul 130-701, Republic of Korea; Department of Physics, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21569, Saudi Arabia. Electronic address: alik@rics.bwh.harvard.edu.
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Khademhosseini
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000737:chemistry; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D003651:Decanoates / Q000737:chemistry*; D004553:Electric Conductivity; D005780:Gelatin / Q000737:chemistry*; D005990:Glycerol / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000737:chemistry; D009206:Myocardium / Q000166:cytology; D032383:Myocytes, Cardiac / Q000166:cytology*; D057139:Nanofibers / Q000737:chemistry / Q000648:ultrastructure; D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon / Q000737:chemistry*; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000379:methods*; D054457:Tissue Scaffolds / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D003651:Decanoates; D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon; D011108:Polymers; C469892:poly(glycerol-sebacate); D005780:Gelatin; D005990:Glycerol
keywords: Carbon Nanotubes (CNTs); Cardiac tissue engineering; Cardiomyocyte; Poly(glycerol sebacate):gelatin; Scaffold