Tough and flexible CNT-polymeric hybrid scaffolds for engineering cardiac constructs

Mahshid Kharaziha; Su Ryon Shin; Mehdi Nikkhah; Seda Nur Topkaya; Nafiseh Masoumi; Nasim Annabi; Mehmet R Dokmeci; Ali Khademhosseini

doi:10.1016/j.biomaterials.2014.05.014

Tough and flexible CNT-polymeric hybrid scaffolds for engineering cardiac constructs

Biomaterials. 2014 Aug;35(26):7346-54. doi: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2014.05.014. Epub 2014 Jun 10.

Authors

Mahshid Kharaziha¹, Su Ryon Shin², Mehdi Nikkhah³, Seda Nur Topkaya⁴, Nafiseh Masoumi³, Nasim Annabi², Mehmet R Dokmeci², Ali Khademhosseini⁵

Affiliations

¹ Biomaterials Innovation Research Center, Division of Biomedical Engineering, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Woman's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02139, USA; Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA; Biomaterials Research Group, Department of Materials Engineering, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan, 8415683111, Iran.
² Biomaterials Innovation Research Center, Division of Biomedical Engineering, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Woman's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02139, USA; Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA; Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
³ Biomaterials Innovation Research Center, Division of Biomedical Engineering, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Woman's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02139, USA; Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
⁴ Biomaterials Innovation Research Center, Division of Biomedical Engineering, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Woman's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02139, USA; Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA; Ege University, Faculty of Pharmacy, Department of Analytical Chemistry, Izmir, TR-35100 Turkey.
⁵ Biomaterials Innovation Research Center, Division of Biomedical Engineering, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Woman's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02139, USA; Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA; Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Department of Maxillofacial Biomedical Engineering and Institute of Oral Biology, School of Dentistry, Kyung Hee University, Seoul 130-701, Republic of Korea; Department of Physics, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21569, Saudi Arabia. Electronic address: alik@rics.bwh.harvard.edu.

Abstract

In the past few years, a considerable amount of effort has been devoted toward the development of biomimetic scaffolds for cardiac tissue engineering. However, most of the previous scaffolds have been electrically insulating or lacked the structural and mechanical robustness to engineer cardiac tissue constructs with suitable electrophysiological functions. Here, we developed tough and flexible hybrid scaffolds with enhanced electrical properties composed of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) embedded aligned poly(glycerol sebacate):gelatin (PG) electrospun nanofibers. Incorporation of varying concentrations of CNTs from 0 to 1.5% within the PG nanofibrous scaffolds (CNT-PG scaffolds) notably enhanced fiber alignment and improved the electrical conductivity and toughness of the scaffolds while maintaining the viability, retention, alignment, and contractile activities of cardiomyocytes (CMs) seeded on the scaffolds. The resulting CNT-PG scaffolds resulted in stronger spontaneous and synchronous beating behavior (3.5-fold lower excitation threshold and 2.8-fold higher maximum capture rate) compared to those cultured on PG scaffold. Overall, our findings demonstrated that aligned CNT-PG scaffold exhibited superior mechanical properties with enhanced CM beating properties. It is envisioned that the proposed hybrid scaffolds can be useful for generating cardiac tissue constructs with improved organization and maturation.

Keywords: Carbon Nanotubes (CNTs); Cardiac tissue engineering; Cardiomyocyte; Poly(glycerol sebacate):gelatin; Scaffold.

Publication types

Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

Animals
Biocompatible Materials / chemistry
Cells, Cultured
Decanoates / chemistry*
Electric Conductivity
Gelatin / chemistry*
Glycerol / analogs & derivatives*
Glycerol / chemistry
Myocardium / cytology
Myocytes, Cardiac / cytology*
Nanofibers / chemistry
Nanofibers / ultrastructure
Nanotubes, Carbon / chemistry*
Polymers / chemistry*
Rats, Sprague-Dawley
Tissue Engineering / methods*
Tissue Scaffolds / chemistry*

Substances

Biocompatible Materials
Decanoates
Nanotubes, Carbon
Polymers
poly(glycerol-sebacate)
Gelatin
Glycerol

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Substances

Grants and funding