Engineering Functional Cardiac Tissues for Regenerative Medicine Applications

• Authors: Martin L. Tomov, Emory University; Carmen J. Gil, Emory University; Alexander Cetnar, Emory University; Andrea S. Theus, Emory University; Bryanna J. Lima, Emory University; Joy E. Nish, Emory University; Holly Bauser-Heaton, Emory University; Vahid Serpooshan, Emory University
• Journal Title: Current Cardiology Reports
• Volume: Volume 21, Number 9
• Publisher: Springer | 2019-09-01, Pages 105-105
• Type of Work: Article | Post-print: After Peer Review
• Publisher DOI: http://doi.org/10.1007/s11886-019-1178-9
• Subjects: Engineering, Biomedical; Biology, Cell; Health Sciences, Rehabilitation and Therapy
• Keywords: Science & Technology; Life Sciences & Biomedicine; Cardiac & Cardiovascular Systems; Cardiovascular System & Cardiology; Cardiac tissue engineering; Bioprinting; 3D modeling; Vascular network; Cardiovascular regenerative medicine; Patient-specific precision medicine; Mesenchymal stem-cells; Sheet manipulation technique; Cardiovascular medicine; Heart regeneration; Endothelial-cells; Myocardial tissue; Scaffolds; Matrix; Cardiomyocytes; Therapy

Abstract

Purpose of Review: Tissue engineering has expanded into a highly versatile manufacturing landscape that holds great promise for advancing cardiovascular regenerative medicine. In this review, we provide a summary of the current state-of-the-art bioengineering technologies used to create functional cardiac tissues for a variety of applications in vitro and in vivo. Recent Findings: Studies over the past few years have made a strong case that tissue engineering is one of the major driving forces behind the accelerating fields of patient-specific regenerative medicine, precision medicine, compound screening, and disease modeling. To date, a variety of approaches have been used to bioengineer functional cardiac constructs, including biomaterial-based, cell-based, and hybrid (using cells and biomaterials) approaches. While some major progress has been made using cellular approaches, with multiple ongoing clinical trials, cell-free cardiac tissue engineering approaches have also accomplished multiple breakthroughs, although drawbacks remain. Summary: This review summarizes the most promising methods that have been employed to generate cardiovascular tissue constructs for basic science or clinical applications. Further, we outline the strengths and challenges that are inherent to this field as a whole and for each highlighted technology.