Spatial and electrical factors regulating cardiac regeneration and assembly

Abstract

The Functional human engineered cardiac tissue may one day be used to repair defects and disastrous results of myocardial infarction or used in high throughput drug screening and development applications. Recent advances in stem cell biology allow the production of immature autologous human cardiomyocytes. Tissue engineers aim to mature these cells to produce high fidelity human engineered cardiac tissue. Generating adult-like human cardiac tissue in vitro requires the application of cues that guide cellular self-assembly to resemble native tissue morphology and function. The myocardium is a highly organized tissue that allows anisotropic action potential propagation and contraction resulting in an efficient pumping action. Factors that guide cardiac assembly in vitro can be assigned into two main groups: spatial and electrical. Anisotropic topographical cues engineered into scaffolds can direct cardiomyocyte assembly. Static and cyclic stretch can be applied during the culture of cardiac tissue to promote alignment and stimulate hypertrophy. Application of an external electric field during culture can promote cellular alignment, tissue ultrastructure, and calcium handling. Biomaterials can be designed to facilitate action potential propagation throughout the cardiac tissue. Here we give a comprehensive review of spatial and electrical cues that direct the assembly of engineered cardiac tissue.