title: Reduced Graphene Oxide-GelMA Hybrid Hydrogels as Scaffolds for Cardiac Tissue Engineering.
abstract: Biomaterials currently used in cardiac tissue engineering have certain limitations, such as lack of electrical conductivity and appropriate mechanical properties, which are two parameters playing a key role in regulating cardiac cell behavior. Here, the myocardial tissue constructs are engineered based on reduced graphene oxide (rGO)-incorporated gelatin methacryloyl (GelMA) hybrid hydrogels. The incorporation of rGO into the GelMA matrix significantly enhances the electrical conductivity and mechanical properties of the material. Moreover, cells cultured on composite rGO-GelMA scaffolds exhibit better biological activities such as cell viability, proliferation, and maturation compared to ones cultured on GelMA hydrogels. Cardiomyocytes show stronger contractility and faster spontaneous beating rate on rGO-GelMA hydrogel sheets compared to those on pristine GelMA hydrogels, as well as GO-GelMA hydrogel sheets with similar mechanical property and particle concentration. Our strategy of integrating rGO within a biocompatible hydrogel is expected to be broadly applicable for future biomaterial designs to improve tissue engineering outcomes. The engineered cardiac tissue constructs using rGO incorporated hybrid hydrogels can potentially provide high-fidelity tissue models for drug studies and the investigations of cardiac tissue development and/or disease processes in vitro.
authors.affiliation: Biomaterials Innovation Research Center, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, 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, 02139, USA.
authors.forename: Su Ryon
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Shin
authors.affiliation: Biomaterials Innovation Research Center, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA.|Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA.
authors.forename: Claudio
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zihlmann
authors.affiliation: Biomaterials Innovation Research Center, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA.|Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA.|Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Victoria, 3800 Finnerty Rd., Victoria, BC, V8P 2C5, Canada.
authors.forename: Mohsen
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Akbari
authors.affiliation: Biomaterials Innovation Research Center, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA.|Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA.
authors.forename: Pribpandao
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Assawes
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology, University of Waterloo, 200 University Ave. West, Waterloo, Ontario, N2L 3G1, Canada.
authors.forename: Louis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cheung
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.
authors.forename: Kaizhen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Biomaterials Innovation Research Center, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA.|Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA.
authors.forename: Vijayan
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Manoharan
authors.affiliation: Biomaterials Innovation Research Center, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA.|Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA.
authors.forename: Yu Shrike
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Engineering, Biomedical Engineering Department, Baskent University, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Mehmet
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yüksekkaya
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.
authors.forename: Kai-Tak
authors.initials: KT
authors.lastname: Wan
authors.affiliation: School of Biological and Health Systems Engineering, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, 85251, USA.
authors.forename: Mehdi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nikkhah
authors.affiliation: Biomaterials Innovation Research Center, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, 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, 02139, USA.
authors.forename: Mehmet R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Dokmeci
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology, University of Waterloo, 200 University Ave. West, Waterloo, Ontario, N2L 3G1, Canada.
authors.forename: Xiaowu Shirley
authors.initials: XS
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.affiliation: Biomaterials Innovation Research Center, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, 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, 02139, USA.|Department of Physics, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, 21569, Saudi Arabia.|College of Animal Bioscience and Technology, Department of Bioindustrial Technologies, Konkuk University, Hwayang-dong, Kwangjin-gu, Seoul, 143-701, South Korea.
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Khademhosseini
mesh_terms: D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000737:chemistry; D005780:Gelatin / Q000737:chemistry; D006108:Graphite / Q000737:chemistry*; D020100:Hydrogels / Q000737:chemistry*; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000379:methods*; D054457:Tissue Scaffolds / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D020100:Hydrogels; D006108:Graphite; D005780:Gelatin
keywords: bioactuator; cardiac tissue engineering; gelatin; hydrogel; reduced graphene oxide