title: Regulation of the microenvironment for cardiac tissue engineering.
abstract: The microenvironment of myocardium plays an important role in the fate and function of cardiomyocytes (CMs). Cardiovascular tissue engineering strategies commonly utilize stem cell sources in conjunction with microenvironmental cues that often include biochemical, electrical, spatial and biomechanical factors. Microenvironmental stimulation of CMs, in addition to the incorporation of intercellular interactions from non-CMs, results in the generation of engineered cardiac constructs. Current studies suggest that use of these factors when engineering cardiac constructs improve cardiac function when implanted in vivo. In this review, we summarize the approaches to modulate biochemical, electrical, biomechanical and spatial factors to induce CM differentiation and their subsequent organization for cardiac tissue engineering application.
authors.affiliation: Stanford Cardiovascular Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.|Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System, Palo Alto, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Maureen
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wanjare
authors.affiliation: Stanford Cardiovascular Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.|Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System, Palo Alto, CA, USA.|Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Ngan F
authors.initials: NF
authors.lastname: Huang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D005109:Extracellular Matrix / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D032383:Myocytes, Cardiac / Q000166:cytology*; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology*; D023822:Tissue Engineering
keywords: biophysical; cardiomyocytes; mechanical; rigidity; stem cells; tissue engineering