Current Developments of Electroconductive Scaffolds for Cardiac Tissue Engineering

Abstract

Cardiovascular damage and diseases are associated with the leading cause of mortality worldwide. Treatments for cardiovascular damage are limited because of the lack of donors for heart transplantation. The most abundant cells in the heart, cardiomyocytes, cannot by themselves regenerate; hence cardiac tissue engineering emerges as a new treatment option for the stimulation of tissue regeneration. A key element in tissue engineering is developing tridimensional porous structures, named scaffold, that imitates the extracellular matrix of the tissue to regenerate. To promote cell adhesion, migration, differentiation, and proliferation, the scaffolds used for heart regeneration need to allow for heart mechanical contractility and electrical conductivity. Different materials commonly used for scaffold fabrication, such as collagen, silk, alginate, and chitosan, can be functionalized with nanostructures like carbon nanotubes or graphene to increase the scaffold’s electrical conductivity. Different human stem cells, such as embryonic, adipose, or bone marrow stem cells, can be cultured in the scaffold and differentiated into cardiomyocytes to obtain electroconductive tissue. Current strategies for using suitable electroconductive scaffolds in cardiac tissue engineering include developing hydrogels or cardiac patches that promote cell-electrical interactions and tissue repair.