Recent Advances on Electroconductive Hydrogels Used in Heart Repair and Regeneration

Abstract

Myocardial infarction (MI) permanently damages cardiac tissue. Tissue engineering exhibits tremendous potential as a strategy for developing engineered tissue to repair congenital abnormalities in the heart and/or cardiovascular tissue. Electroconductive hydrogels (EHs) are prepared from synthetic or natural biodegradable polymers and conductive components that could partially restore the myocardial/ventricular electromechanical coupling and synchronized heartbeats. Also, EHs are ideal materials for the preparation of cell culture and induction carriers, engineered scaffolds, and patches, as well as cell and gene delivery carriers, all of which aid in tissue formation. Except for a brief introduction to the classification and synthesis of EHs, this review discussed the recent progress and challenges of EHs applied in cardiac repair and regeneration to provide a reference for the further application of EHs in treating cardiovascular diseases. Figure abstract: the EHs categorization and the potential application of heart repair and regeneration in this review.