A. Géraldine Guex, Fabrizio Romano, Irene C. Marcu, Hendrik T. Tevaearai, Nina D. Ullrich, and Marie-Noëlle Giraud
Tissue Engineering, Embryonic Stem Cells, Cardiomyocytes, Electrospinning
Post-myocardial infarction pathologies are additionally compromized by the poor self-repair capacity of the myocardium and the limited possibilities for clinical interventions for regeneration. Cell therapy and in particular tissue engineering evolved as attractive therapeutic options to counteract the high mortality after myocardial infarction and aim to regenerate the myocardium by the delivery of functional cells or tissue constructs. The implantation of stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes, embedded in a biologically degradable matrix, constitutes an intriguing approach, and scaffolds for the culture of cardiomyocytes are increasingly studied. To this end, we developed an electrospun, plasma coated scaffold for the culture of embryonic stem cell (ESC)-derived cardiomyocytes. ESCs were differentiated into cardiomyocytes by the "hanging drop" method and subsequently cultured on a fibrous poly(-caprolactone) scaffold. We could demonstrate that the cardiomyogenic phenotype is maintained on the fibrous matrices. Spontaneously beating areas were highly prevalent and -actinin expression indicated the differentiation into cardiomyocytes. Our results validate the feasibility of cardiomyogenic culture on the designed matrix and warrant further research on the ex vivo generation of a cardiac construct.
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