Development of a Microfluidic Device Embedding High-Conductivity Flexible Electrodes for Three-Dimensional Cell Culture Stimulations

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco Rasponi ◽  
Francesco Piraino ◽  
Nicola Cagol ◽  
Matteo Moretti ◽  
Gianfranco B. Fiore ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tissue Engineering ◽  
Cell Culture ◽  
Cardiac Tissue ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Stem Cell Differentiation ◽  
High Conductivity ◽  
Simple Method ◽  
Beneficial Effects ◽  
Flexible Material ◽  
Macro Scale

Successful treatment of cardiovascular diseases has so far been limited by the lack of suitable autologous tissue to restore injured tissues. Currently, a novel encouraging frontier for such treatment is represented by tissue engineering [1]. Although traditional bioreactors for cardiac tissue engineering, based on a classical macro-scale approach, are widely used, research for identifying effective stimulation patterns has not lead to robust results yet. In this sense, the phenomena driving cell growth and differentiation become more addressable in reduced-scale systems, and microfluidics represents a valid alternative approach to overcome traditional bioreactors limitations. In order to favor the differentiation paths, recently developed microfluidic bioreactors tend to increase the control within cell culture chambers by coupling mechanical, electrical, thermical or optical effects. In particular, stem cell differentiation into cardiomyocytes seems to draw beneficial effects from electrical and mechanical stimulations [2]. This work introduces a simple method of embedding conductive and flexible material within microfluidic devices as a means to realize microscale bioreactors for cell electro-mechanical stimulation. Thanks to the proposed technology, high conductivity three-dimensional (3D) electrodes can be simply realized.

scholarly journals Polymeric Biomaterials for the Treatment of Cardiac Post-Infarction Injuries

Pharmaceutics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 1038
Author(s):  
Sonia Trombino ◽  
Federica Curcio ◽  
Roberta Cassano ◽  
Manuela Curcio ◽  
Giuseppe Cirillo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tissue Engineering ◽  
Cardiac Tissue ◽  
Polymeric Nanoparticles ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Cardiac Regeneration ◽  
Biological Properties ◽  
Positive Influence ◽  
Regenerative Process ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Polymeric Biomaterials

Cardiac regeneration aims to reconstruct the heart contractile mass, preventing the organ from a progressive functional deterioration, by delivering pro-regenerative cells, drugs, or growth factors to the site of injury. In recent years, scientific research focused the attention on tissue engineering for the regeneration of cardiac infarct tissue, and biomaterials able to anatomically and physiologically adapt to the heart muscle have been proposed as valuable tools for this purpose, providing the cells with the stimuli necessary to initiate a complete regenerative process. An ideal biomaterial for cardiac tissue regeneration should have a positive influence on the biomechanical, biochemical, and biological properties of tissues and cells; perfectly reflect the morphology and functionality of the native myocardium; and be mechanically stable, with a suitable thickness. Among others, engineered hydrogels, three-dimensional polymeric systems made from synthetic and natural biomaterials, have attracted much interest for cardiac post-infarction therapy. In addition, biocompatible nanosystems, and polymeric nanoparticles in particular, have been explored in preclinical studies as drug delivery and tissue engineering platforms for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases. This review focused on the most employed natural and synthetic biomaterials in cardiac regeneration, paying particular attention to the contribution of Italian research groups in this field, the fabrication techniques, and the current status of the clinical trials.

scholarly journals Polymeric Bioinks for 3D Hepatic Printing

Chemistry ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 164-181
Author(s):  
Joyita Sarkar ◽  
Swapnil C. Kamble ◽  
Nilambari C. Kashikar
Keyword(s):  
Tissue Engineering ◽  
3D Printing ◽  
Soft Tissues ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Stem Cell Differentiation ◽  
Synthetic Polymers ◽  
Bioactive Molecules ◽  
Complex Geometries ◽  
Printing Techniques ◽  
Natural And Synthetic

Three-dimensional (3D) printing techniques have revolutionized the field of tissue engineering. This is especially favorable to construct intricate tissues such as liver, as 3D printing allows for the precise delivery of biomaterials, cells and bioactive molecules in complex geometries. Bioinks made of polymers, of both natural and synthetic origin, have been very beneficial to printing soft tissues such as liver. Using polymeric bioinks, 3D hepatic structures are printed with or without cells and biomolecules, and have been used for different tissue engineering applications. In this review, with the introduction to basic 3D printing techniques, we discuss different natural and synthetic polymers including decellularized matrices that have been employed for the 3D bioprinting of hepatic structures. Finally, we focus on recent advances in polymeric bioinks for 3D hepatic printing and their applications. The studies indicate that much work has been devoted to improvising the design, stability and longevity of the printed structures. Others focus on the printing of tissue engineered hepatic structures for applications in drug screening, regenerative medicine and disease models. More attention must now be diverted to developing personalized structures and stem cell differentiation to hepatic lineage.

Tissue Engineering of Spontaneously Beating, Vascularised, Three-Dimensional Cardiac Tissue

2006 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
pp. 742-742
Author(s):  
A.N. Morritt ◽  
R.J. Dilley ◽  
J. Rickards ◽  
X.L. Han ◽  
D. McCombe ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tissue Engineering ◽  
Cardiac Tissue ◽  
Three Dimensional

scholarly journals Emergence of Three Dimensional Printed Cardiac Tissue: Opportunities and Challenges in Cardiovascular Diseases

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 188-204 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nitin B. Charbe ◽  
Flavia C. Zacconi ◽  
Nikhil Amnerkar ◽  
Dinesh Pardhi ◽  
Priyank Shukla ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tissue Engineering ◽  
Cardiac Tissue ◽  
Ex Vivo ◽  
Interdisciplinary Collaboration ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Heterogeneous Material ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Full Potential ◽  
Therapeutic Outcomes

Three-dimensional (3D) printing, also known as additive manufacturing, was developed originally for engineering applications. Since its early advancements, there has been a relentless development in enthusiasm for this innovation in biomedical research. It allows for the fabrication of structures with both complex geometries and heterogeneous material properties. Tissue engineering using 3D bio-printers can overcome the limitations of traditional tissue engineering methods. It can match the complexity and cellular microenvironment of human organs and tissues, which drives much of the interest in this technique. However, most of the preliminary evaluations of 3Dprinted tissues and organ engineering, including cardiac tissue, relies extensively on the lessons learned from traditional tissue engineering. In many early examples, the final printed structures were found to be no better than tissues developed using traditional tissue engineering methods. This highlights the fact that 3D bio-printing of human tissue is still very much in its infancy and more work needs to be done to realise its full potential. This can be achieved through interdisciplinary collaboration between engineers, biomaterial scientists and molecular cell biologists. This review highlights current advancements and future prospects for 3D bio-printing in engineering ex vivo cardiac tissue and associated vasculature, such as coronary arteries. In this context, the role of biomaterials for hydrogel matrices and choice of cells are discussed. 3D bio-printing has the potential to advance current research significantly and support the development of novel therapeutics which can improve the therapeutic outcomes of patients suffering fatal cardiovascular pathologies.

scholarly journals Physiological aspects of cardiac tissue engineering

2012 ◽  
Vol 303 (2) ◽  
pp. H133-H143 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Eschenhagen ◽  
Alexandra Eder ◽  
Ingra Vollert ◽  
Arne Hansen
Keyword(s):  
Tissue Engineering ◽  
Stem Cells ◽  
Cardiac Myocyte ◽  
Cardiac Tissue ◽  
Cell Sheet ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Embryonic Stem ◽  
Basic Research ◽  
Cardiac Tissue Engineering ◽  
Predictive Toxicology

Cardiac tissue engineering aims at repairing the diseased heart and developing cardiac tissues for basic research and predictive toxicology applications. Since the first description of engineered heart tissue 15 years ago, major development steps were directed toward these three goals. Technical innovations led to improved three-dimensional cardiac tissue structure and near physiological contractile force development. Automation and standardization allow medium throughput screening. Larger constructs composed of many small engineered heart tissues or stacked cell sheet tissues were tested for cardiac repair and were associated with functional improvements in rats. Whether these approaches can be simply transferred to larger animals or the human patients remains to be tested. The availability of an unrestricted human cardiac myocyte cell source from human embryonic stem cells or human-induced pluripotent stem cells is a major breakthrough. This review summarizes current tissue engineering techniques with their strengths and limitations and possible future applications.

Engineered Biomimetic Nanofibers for Regenerative Medicine

2010 ◽  
Vol 76 ◽  
pp. 114-124
Author(s):  
Seeram Ramakrishna ◽  
Jayarama Reddy Venugopal ◽  
Susan Liao
Keyword(s):  
Tissue Engineering ◽  
Stem Cells ◽  
Regenerative Medicine ◽  
Cardiac Tissue ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Electrospun Nanofibers ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Bioactive Molecules ◽  
Natural Polymers ◽  
Hematopoietic Stem

Attempts have been made to fabricate nanofibrous scaffolds to mimic the chemical composition and structural properties of extracellular matrix (ECM) for tissue/organ regeneration. Nanofibers with various patterns have been successfully produced from synthetic and natural polymers through a relatively simple technique of electrospinning. The resulting patterns can mimic some of the diverse tissue-specific orientation and three-dimensional (3D) fibrous structure. Studies on cell-nanofiber interactions have revealed the importance of nanotopography on cell adhesion, proliferation and differentiation. Our recent data showed that hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) as well as mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) can rapidly and effectively attached to the functionalized nanofibers. Mineralized 3D nanofibrous scaffold with bone marrow derived MSCs has been applied for bone tissue engineering. The use of injectable nanofibers for cardiac tissue engineering applications is attractive as they allow for the encapsulation of cardiomyocytes/MSCs as well as bioactive molecules for the repair of myocardial infarction. Duplicate 3D heart helix microstructure by the nanofibrous cardiac patch might provide functional support for infarcted myocardium. Furthermore, clinical applications of electrospun nanofibers for regenerative medicine are highly feasible due to the ease and flexibility of fabrication with the cost-effective method of making nanofibers.

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