No abstract

Regenerative medicine involves methods to control and modify normal tissue repair processes. Polymer and cell constructs are under research to create tissue that replaces the affected area in cardiac tissue after myocardial infarction (MI). The aim of the present study is to evaluate the behavior of differentiated and undifferentiated mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in vitro and in silico and to compare the results that both offer when it comes to the design process of biodevices for the treatment of infarcted myocardium in biomodels. To assess in vitro behavior, MSCs are isolated from rat bone marrow and seeded undifferentiated and differentiated in multiple scaffolds of a gelled biomaterial. Subsequently, cell behavior is evaluated by trypan blue and fluorescence microscopy, which showed that the cells presented high viability and low cell migration in the biomaterial. An agent-based model intended to reproduce as closely as possible the behavior of individual MSCs by simulating cellular-level processes was developed, where the in vitro results are used to identify parameters in the agent-based model that is developed, and which simulates cellular-level processes: Apoptosis, differentiation, proliferation, and migration. Thanks to the results obtained, suggestions for good results in the design and fabrication of the proposed scaffolds and how an agent-based model can be helpful for testing hypothesis are presented in the discussion. It is concluded that assessment of cell behavior through the observation of viability, proliferation, migration, inflammation reduction, and spatial composition in vitro and in silico, represents an appropriate strategy for scaffold engineering.