Tuning the conductivity and inner structure of electrospun fibers to promote cardiomyocyte elongation and synchronous beating.
The key to addressing the challenges facing cardiac tissue engineering is the integration of physical, chemical, and electrical cues into scaffolds. Aligned and conductive scaffolds have been fabricated as synthetic microenvironments to improve the function of cardiomyocytes. However, up to now, the influence of conductive capability and inner structure of fibrous scaffolds have not been determined on the cardiomyocyte morphologies and beating patterns. In the current study, highly aligned fibers were fabricated with loaded up to 6% of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) to modulate the electrical conductivity, while blend and coaxial electrospinning were utilized to create a bulk distribution of CNTs in fiber matrices and a spatial embedment in fiber cores, respectively. Conductive networks were formed in the fibrous scaffolds after the inoculation of over 3% CNTs, and the increase in the conductivity could maintain the cell viabilities, induce the cell elongation, enhance the production of sarcomeric α-actinin and troponin I, and promote the synchronous beating of cardiomyocytes. Although the conductivity of blend fibers is slightly higher than that of coaxial fibers with the same CNT loadings, the lower exposures to CNTs resulted in higher cell viability, elongation, extracellular matrix secretion and beating rates for cardiomyocytes on coaxial fibers. Taken altogether, core-sheath fibers with loaded 5% of CNTs in the fiber cores facilitated the cardiomyocyte growth with a production of organized contractile proteins and a pulsation frequency close to that of the atrium. It is suggested that electrospun scaffolds that couple conductivity and fibrous structure considerations may provide optimal stimuli to foster cell morphology and functions for myocardial regeneration or establishment of in vitro cardiomyocyte culture platform for drug screening.
School of Life Sciences, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong University, Key Laboratory of Advanced Technologies of Materials, Ministry of Education, Chengdu 610031, PR China; College of Food Science, Sichuan Agricultural University, Yaan 625014, PR China.
Yaowen
Y
Liu
School of Life Sciences, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong University, Key Laboratory of Advanced Technologies of Materials, Ministry of Education, Chengdu 610031, PR China.
Jinfu
J
Lu
Emergency Department, Chengdu Military General Hospital, Chengdu 610083, PR China.
Guisen
G
Xu
School of Life Sciences, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong University, Key Laboratory of Advanced Technologies of Materials, Ministry of Education, Chengdu 610031, PR China.
Jiaojun
J
Wei
School of Life Sciences, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong University, Key Laboratory of Advanced Technologies of Materials, Ministry of Education, Chengdu 610031, PR China. Electronic address: zbz183@163.com.
Zhibin
Z
Zhang
School of Life Sciences, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong University, Key Laboratory of Advanced Technologies of Materials, Ministry of Education, Chengdu 610031, PR China. Electronic address: xhli@swjtu.edu.cn.
Xiaohong
X
Li
D000818:Animals; D015153:Blotting, Western; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D004553:Electric Conductivity; D005109:Extracellular Matrix / Q000378:metabolism; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D055595:Mechanical Phenomena; D032383:Myocytes, Cardiac / Q000166:cytology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon / Q000737:chemistry; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000379:methods*; D054457:Tissue Scaffolds / Q000737:chemistry*
D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon
Cell elongation; Coaxial electrospinning; Conductivity; Contractile protein production; Synchronous beating