Recreating the heart’s helical structure-function relationship with focused rotary jet spinning

Abstract

Helical alignments within the heart’s musculature have been speculated to be important in achieving physiological pumping efficiencies. Testing this possibility is difficult, however, because it is challenging to reproduce the fine spatial features and complex structures of the heart’s musculature using current techniques. Here we report focused rotary jet spinning (FRJS), an additive manufacturing approach that enables rapid fabrication of micro/nanofiber scaffolds with programmable alignments in three-dimensional geometries. Seeding these scaffolds with cardiomyocytes enabled the biofabrication of tissue-engineered ventricles, with helically aligned models displaying more uniform deformations, greater apical shortening, and increased ejection fractions compared with circumferential alignments. The ability of FRJS to control fiber arrangements in three dimensions offers a streamlined approach to fabricating tissues and organs, with this work demonstrating how helical architectures contribute to cardiac performance.

Perpendicular Shear Stresses Drive Transmural Helical Remodeling in Engineered Human Ventricular Models

“…Similarly, electrospun 3D fibrous scaffolds provide patterned extracellular matrix cues to align cells by providing single fiber orientations to guide cellular organization 16,25 . It is only very recently that electrospinning helical scaffold architecture has been demonstrated 21 .…”

“…H. Chang et. al 21 has recently demonstrated the most advanced fabrication of multiscale tissue architecture by providing electrospun scaffolding with conical ventricular architecture and helical fiber orientations.…”

Combining Cell Technologies With Biomimetic Tissue Engineering Applications: A New Paradigm for Translational Cardiovascular Therapies

“… 17 D : Focused rotary jet spinning for producing helical structures. 18 Figures were adapted and reprinted under Creative Commons CC-BY License and with permissions from the journals.…”

“…Recently, advanced AM technologies such as melt electrowriting (MEW) and focused rotary jet spinning (FRJS) were able to further improve the mechanical properties of 3D printed prostheses, by providing highly structured and organized fibrous scaffolds 18 , 66 ( Fig. 1C , 1D ).…”

“…FRJS is a platform able to rapidly manufacture helically and circumferentially aligned tissue-engineered constructs with preserved biomechanics. 18 This technology holds a great promise for future structural heart valve replacement, as well as myocardial tissue repair, and many additional applications.…”