Fibers for hearts: A critical review on electrospinning for cardiac tissue engineering

Abstract

Please cite this article as: Kitsara, M., Agbulut, O., Kontziampasis, D., Chen, Y., Menasché, P., Fibers for hearts: A critical review on electrospinning for cardiac tissue engineering, Acta Biomaterialia (2016), doi: http://dx.doi.org/ 10. 1016/j.actbio.2016.11.014 This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain. AbstractCardiac cell therapy holds a real promise for improving heart function and especially of the chronically failing myocardium. Embedding cells into 3D biodegradable scaffolds may better preserve cell survival and enhance cell engraftment after transplantation, consequently improving cardiac cell therapy compared with direct intramyocardial injection of isolated cells.The primary objective of a scaffold used in tissue engineering is the recreation of the natural 3D environment most suitable for an adequate tissue growth. An important aspect of this commitment is to mimic the fibrillar structure of the extracellular matrix, which provides essential guidance for cell organization, survival, and function. Recent advances in nanotechnology have significantly improved our capacities to mimic the extracellular matrix. Among them, electrospinning is well known for being easy to process and cost effective. Consequently, it is becoming increasingly popular for biomedical applications and it is most definitely the cutting edge technique to make scaffolds that mimic the extracellular matrix for industrial applications.Here, the desirable physico-chemical properties of the electrospun scaffolds for cardiac therapy are described, and polymers are categorized to natural and synthetic. Moreover, the methods used for improving functionalities by providing cells with the necessary chemical cues and a more in vivo-like environment are reported.

Decellularization Strategies for Regenerative Medicine: From Processing Techniques to Applications

“…Technologies like electrospinning and 3D printing enable the control of these properties through optimization in the materials and processing parameters. Electrospun constructs, which consist of arranged polymeric nanofibers, have been utilized in engineering several tissue structures, including vascular grafts [17], bone [18], and myocardium [19]. Furthermore, 3D printing in scaffold design allows for the integration of features like vasculature [20, 21] and the control of scaffold architecture [22], using synthetic polymers or bioinks.…”

Cardiomyogenic differentiation of human bone marrow‐derived mesenchymal stem cell spheroids within electrospun collagen nanofiber mats

“…Electrospinning allows control on tuning fiber thickness and composition, and the process is compatible with a broad range of polymers to support wide applications . The materials commonly utilized to fabricate electrospun nanofibrous patch for cardiac tissue engineering include synthetic (e.g., PCL, polycaprolactone; PLA, polylactic acid; PGA, polyglycolic acid; PU, polyurethanes, their co‐polymers) and natural polymers (e.g., collagen, fibrinogen, chitosan, gelatin, elastin, and silk fibers) …”

“…Although synthetic polymers are preferred for electrospinning due to their cost‐effectiveness and control over fiber properties (physicochemical, degradation), they need posttreatment such as functionalization or surface‐coating as they are hydrophobic and lack biochemical cues needed for cell adhesion. They also present concerns of toxicity, bioaccumulation and immune reactions upon implantation . In contrast, natural polymers provide biochemical cues for cell adhesion and proliferation and are nontoxic and low immunogenic .…”

Blow-assisted multi-jet electrospinning of poly-L-lactic acid nanofibers

“…electrospinning is limited, nanofibrous structures generated by this technology gathered attention of specialists from various fields, for instance filtration [4,5], chemical catalysis [6,7], electronics and energy storage [8,9], tissue engineering [10][11][12], and the like. To overcome the low throughput of electrospinning, and provide large scale process for abovementioned specialists, various approaches have been reported to scale up nanofiber production.…”