Electroconductive Nanofiber/Myocardium Gel Scaffolds Applicable for Myocardial Infarction Therapy

Abstract

Myocardial infarction (MI) is a prevalent cause of mortality worldwide. In this study, a sandwich scaffold was prepared for MI therapy using two commonly used materials in the medical field, polyglycerol sebacate (PGS) and polycaprolactone (PCL), and a series of interrelated steps. The PGS/PCL nanofibers were coated with a conductive polymer, i.e., polypyrrole (PPy), and then embedded into a decellularized myocardium gel to form a 3D scaffold. Different quantitative and qualitative evaluation tests were performed, and their results were reported. Under optimal conditions for nanofiber production, the PGS/PCL/PPy nanofibers had an average diameter of 411 nm with electrical conductivity 0.00108 S cm–1. The hydrophilicity of the PGS/PCL layer did not significantly change after coating with PPy. The biodegradability test showed a reduction of 39% and 33% in weight for the uncoated and PPy-coated samples, respectively, after 24 weeks. The highest biocompatibility was observed in the sample synthesized with 0.05 M pyrrole. Histological assessments and DNA content tests validated the process of decellularization. The highest cell viability was observed in the scaffold containing a solubilized and decellularized myocardium gel (PGS/PCL/PPyA/DMG) with evenly distributed cells on the surface of the scaffolds. The highest cell infiltration and the highest percentage of expression of the specific cardiac proteins (Cx43, MHC, and cTnT) were also observed in the PGS/PCL/PPyA/DMG scaffold, which was attributed to the synergistic effect of PPy and decellularized myocardium gel (p-value <0.001).