1
|
Chen TA, Zhao BB, Balbin RA, Sharma S, Ha D, Kamp TJ, Zhou Y, Zhao F. Engineering a robust and anisotropic cardiac-specific extracellular matrix scaffold for cardiac patch tissue engineering. Matrix Biol Plus 2024; 23:100151. [PMID: 38882397 PMCID: PMC11176808 DOI: 10.1016/j.mbplus.2024.100151] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2024] [Revised: 04/22/2024] [Accepted: 05/18/2024] [Indexed: 06/18/2024] Open
Abstract
Extracellular matrix (ECM) fabricated using human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs)-derived cardiac fibroblasts (hiPSC-CFs) could serve as a completely biological scaffold for an engineered cardiac patch, leveraging the unlimited source and outstanding reproducibility of hiPSC-CFs. Additionally, hiPSC-CF-derived ECM (hiPSC-CF-ECM) holds the potential to enhance maturation of exogenous cardiomyocytes, such as hiPSC-derived cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CMs), by providing a microenvironment rich in cardiac-specific biochemical and signaling cues. However, achieving sufficient robustness of hiPSC-CF-ECM is challenging. This study aims to achieve appropriate ECM deposition, scaffold thickness, and mechanical strength of an aligned hiPSC-CF-ECM by optimizing the culture period, ranging from 2 to 10 weeks, of hiPSC-CFs grown on micro-grated substrates, which can direct the alignment of both hiPSC-CFs and their secreted ECM. The hiPSC-CFs demonstrated a production rate of 13.5 µg ECM per day per 20,000 cells seeded. An anisotropic nanofibrous hiPSC-CF-ECM scaffold with a thickness of 20.0 ± 2.1 µm was achieved after 6 weeks of culture, followed by decellularization. Compositional analysis through liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) revealed the presence of cardiac-specific fibrillar collagens, non-fibrillar collagens, and matricellular proteins. Uniaxial tensile stretching of the hiPSC-CF-ECM scaffold indicated robust tensile resilience. Finally, hiPSCs-CMs cultured on the hiPSC-CF-ECM exhibited alignment following the guidance of ECM nanofibers and demonstrated mature organization of key structural proteins. The culture duration of the anisotropic hiPSC-CF-ECM was successfully refined to achieve a robust scaffold containing structural proteins that resembles cardiac microenvironment. This completely biological, anisotropic, and cardiac-specific ECM holds great potential for cardiac patch engineering.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Te-An Chen
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
| | - Brandon B. Zhao
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
| | - Richard A. Balbin
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
| | - Sameeksha Sharma
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
| | - Donggi Ha
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
| | - Timothy J. Kamp
- Department of Medicine, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53705, USA
- Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53705, USA
| | - Yuxiao Zhou
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
| | - Feng Zhao
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Ke M, Xu W, Hao Y, Zheng F, Yang G, Fan Y, Wang F, Nie Z, Zhu C. Construction of millimeter-scale vascularized engineered myocardial tissue using a mixed gel. Regen Biomater 2023; 11:rbad117. [PMID: 38223293 PMCID: PMC10786677 DOI: 10.1093/rb/rbad117] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2023] [Revised: 12/10/2023] [Accepted: 12/17/2023] [Indexed: 01/16/2024] Open
Abstract
Engineering myocardium has shown great clinal potential for repairing permanent myocardial injury. However, the lack of perfusing blood vessels and difficulties in preparing a thick-engineered myocardium result in its limited clinical use. We prepared a mixed gel containing fibrin (5 mg/ml) and collagen I (0.2 mg/ml) and verified that human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) and human-induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CMs) could form microvascular lumens and myocardial cell clusters by harnessing the low-hardness and hyperelastic characteristics of fibrin. hiPSC-CMs and HUVECs in the mixed gel formed self-organized cell clusters, which were then cultured in different media using a three-phase approach. The successfully constructed vascularized engineered myocardial tissue had a spherical structure and final diameter of 1-2 mm. The tissue exhibited autonomous beats that occurred at a frequency similar to a normal human heart rate. The internal microvascular lumen could be maintained for 6 weeks and showed good results during preliminary surface re-vascularization in vitro and vascular remodeling in vivo. In summary, we propose a simple method for constructing vascularized engineered myocardial tissue, through phased cultivation that does not rely on high-end manufacturing equipment and cutting-edge preparation techniques. The constructed tissue has potential value for clinical use after preliminary evaluation.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ming Ke
- Department of Anatomy, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400038, China
| | - Wenhui Xu
- Department of Anatomy, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400038, China
| | - Yansha Hao
- Department of Anatomy, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400038, China
| | - Feiyang Zheng
- Department of Anatomy, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400038, China
| | - Guanyuan Yang
- Department of Anatomy, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400038, China
| | - Yonghong Fan
- Department of Anatomy, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400038, China
| | - Fangfang Wang
- Department of Anatomy, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400038, China
| | - Zhiqiang Nie
- Department of Anatomy, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400038, China
| | - Chuhong Zhu
- Department of Anatomy, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400038, China
- State Key Laboratory of Trauma, Burn and Combined Injury, Chongqing 400038, China
- Department of Plastic and Aesthetic Surgery, Southwest Hospital, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400038, China
- Engineering Research Center of Tissue and Organ Regeneration and Manufacturing, Ministry of Education, Chongqing 400038, China
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Sun J, Wang L, Matthews RC, Walcott GP, Yu-An L, Wei Y, Zhou Y, Zangi L, Zhang J. CCND2 Modified mRNA Activates Cell Cycle of Cardiomyocytes in Hearts With Myocardial Infarction in Mice and Pigs. Circ Res 2023; 133:484-504. [PMID: 37565345 PMCID: PMC10529295 DOI: 10.1161/circresaha.123.322929] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/13/2023] [Accepted: 08/01/2023] [Indexed: 08/12/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Experiments in mammalian models of cardiac injury suggest that the cardiomyocyte-specific overexpression of CCND2 (cyclin D2, in humans) improves recovery from myocardial infarction (MI). The primary objective of this investigation was to demonstrate that our specific modified mRNA translation system (SMRTs) can induce CCND2 expression in cardiomyocytes and replicate the benefits observed in other studies of cardiomyocyte-specific CCND2 overexpression for myocardial repair. METHODS The CCND2-cardiomyocyte-specific modified mRNA translation system (cardiomyocyte SMRTs) consists of 2 modRNA constructs: one codes for CCND2 and contains a binding site for L7Ae, and the other codes for L7Ae and contains recognition elements for the cardiomyocyte-specific microRNAs miR-1 and miR-208. Thus, L7Ae suppresses CCND2 translation in noncardiomyocytes but is itself suppressed by endogenous miR-1 and -208 in cardiomyocytes, thereby facilitating cardiomyocyte-specific CCND2 expression. Experiments were conducted in both mouse and pig models of MI, and control assessments were performed in animals treated with an SMRTs coding for the cardiomyocyte-specific expression of luciferase or green fluorescent protein (GFP), in animals treated with L7Ae modRNA alone or with the delivery vehicle, and in Sham-operated animals. RESULTS CCND2 was abundantly expressed in cultured, postmitotic cardiomyocytes 2 days after transfection with the CCND2-cardiomyocyte SMRTs, and the increase was accompanied by the upregulation of markers for cell-cycle activation and proliferation (eg, Ki67 and Aurora B kinase). When the GFP-cardiomyocyte SMRTs were intramyocardially injected into infarcted mouse hearts, the GFP signal was observed in cardiomyocytes but no other cell type. In both MI models, cardiomyocyte proliferation (on day 7 and day 3 after treatment administration in mice and pigs, respectively) was significantly greater, left-ventricular ejection fractions (days 7 and 28 in mice, days 10 and 28 in pigs) were significantly higher, and infarcts (day 28 in both species) were significantly smaller in animals treated with the CCND2-cardiomyocyte SMRTs than in any other group that underwent MI induction. CONCLUSIONS Intramyocardial injections of the CCND2-cardiomyocyte SMRTs promoted cardiomyocyte proliferation, reduced infarct size, and improved cardiac performance in small and large mammalian hearts with MI.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jiacheng Sun
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Medicine, School of Engineering, University of Alabama at Birmingham
- These authors contributed equally to this work
| | - Lu Wang
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Medicine, School of Engineering, University of Alabama at Birmingham
- These authors contributed equally to this work
| | - Rachel C. Matthews
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Medicine, School of Engineering, University of Alabama at Birmingham
| | - Gregory P. Walcott
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Medicine, School of Engineering, University of Alabama at Birmingham
- Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiovascular Disease, School of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham
| | - Lu Yu-An
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Medicine, School of Engineering, University of Alabama at Birmingham
| | - Yuhua Wei
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Medicine, School of Engineering, University of Alabama at Birmingham
| | - Yang Zhou
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Medicine, School of Engineering, University of Alabama at Birmingham
| | - Lior Zangi
- Cardiovascular Research Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA, 10029
- Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA, 10029
- Black Family Stem Cell Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA, 10029
| | - Jianyi Zhang
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Medicine, School of Engineering, University of Alabama at Birmingham
- Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiovascular Disease, School of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Gil-Cabrerizo P, Scaccheti I, Garbayo E, Blanco-Prieto MJ. Cardiac tissue engineering for myocardial infarction treatment. Eur J Pharm Sci 2023; 185:106439. [PMID: 37003408 DOI: 10.1016/j.ejps.2023.106439] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2022] [Revised: 03/26/2023] [Accepted: 03/28/2023] [Indexed: 04/03/2023]
Abstract
Myocardial infarction is one of the major causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Current treatments can relieve the symptoms of myocardial ischemia but cannot repair the necrotic myocardial tissue. Novel therapeutic strategies based on cellular therapy, extracellular vesicles, non-coding RNAs and growth factors have been designed to restore cardiac function while inducing cardiomyocyte cycle re-entry, ensuring angiogenesis and cardioprotection, and preventing ventricular remodeling. However, they face low stability, cell engraftment issues or enzymatic degradation in vivo, and it is thus essential to combine them with biomaterial-based delivery systems. Microcarriers, nanocarriers, cardiac patches and injectable hydrogels have yielded promising results in preclinical studies, some of which are currently being tested in clinical trials. In this review, we cover the recent advances made in cellular and acellular therapies used for cardiac repair after MI. We present current trends in cardiac tissue engineering related to the use of microcarriers, nanocarriers, cardiac patches and injectable hydrogels as biomaterial-based delivery systems for biologics. Finally, we discuss some of the most crucial aspects that should be addressed in order to advance towards the clinical translation of cardiac tissue engineering approaches.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Paula Gil-Cabrerizo
- Department of Pharmaceutical Technology and Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy and Nutrition, University of Navarra, Pamplona, C/Irunlarrea 1, E-31080, Spain.; Navarra Institute for Health Research, IdiSNA, Pamplona, C/Irunlarrea 3, E-31008 Pamplona, Spain
| | - Ilaria Scaccheti
- Department of Pharmaceutical Technology and Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy and Nutrition, University of Navarra, Pamplona, C/Irunlarrea 1, E-31080, Spain
| | - Elisa Garbayo
- Department of Pharmaceutical Technology and Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy and Nutrition, University of Navarra, Pamplona, C/Irunlarrea 1, E-31080, Spain.; Navarra Institute for Health Research, IdiSNA, Pamplona, C/Irunlarrea 3, E-31008 Pamplona, Spain..
| | - María J Blanco-Prieto
- Department of Pharmaceutical Technology and Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy and Nutrition, University of Navarra, Pamplona, C/Irunlarrea 1, E-31080, Spain.; Navarra Institute for Health Research, IdiSNA, Pamplona, C/Irunlarrea 3, E-31008 Pamplona, Spain..
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Wang L, Nguyen T, Rosa-Garrido M, Zhou Y, Cleveland DC, Zhang J. Comparative analysis of the cardiomyocyte differentiation potential of induced pluripotent stem cells reprogrammed from human atrial or ventricular fibroblasts. Front Bioeng Biotechnol 2023; 11:1108340. [PMID: 36845191 PMCID: PMC9950567 DOI: 10.3389/fbioe.2023.1108340] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/25/2022] [Accepted: 02/01/2023] [Indexed: 02/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Background: We had shown that cardiomyocytes (CMs) were more efficiently differentiated from human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) when the hiPSCs were reprogrammed from cardiac fibroblasts rather than dermal fibroblasts or blood mononuclear cells. Here, we continued to investigate the relationship between somatic-cell lineage and hiPSC-CM production by comparing the yield and functional properties of CMs differentiated from iPSCs reprogrammed from human atrial or ventricular cardiac fibroblasts (AiPSC or ViPSC, respectively). Methods: Atrial and ventricular heart tissues were obtained from the same patient, reprogrammed into AiPSCs or ViPSCs, and then differentiated into CMs (AiPSC-CMs or ViPSC-CMs, respectively) via established protocols. Results: The time-course of expression for pluripotency genes (OCT4, NANOG, and SOX2), the early mesodermal marker Brachyury, the cardiac mesodermal markers MESP1 and Gata4, and the cardiovascular progenitor-cell transcription factor NKX2.5 were broadly similar in AiPSC-CMs and ViPSC-CMs during the differentiation protocol. Flow-cytometry analyses of cardiac troponin T expression also indicated that purity of the two differentiated hiPSC-CM populations (AiPSC-CMs: 88.23% ± 4.69%, ViPSC-CMs: 90.25% ± 4.99%) was equivalent. While the field-potential durations were significantly longer in ViPSC-CMs than in AiPSC-CMs, measurements of action potential duration, beat period, spike amplitude, conduction velocity, and peak calcium-transient amplitude did not differ significantly between the two hiPSC-CM populations. Yet, our cardiac-origin iPSC-CM showed higher ADP and conduction velocity than previously reported iPSC-CM derived from non-cardiac tissues. Transcriptomic data comparing iPSC and iPSC-CMs showed similar gene expression profiles between AiPSC-CMs and ViPSC-CMs with significant differences when compared to iPSC-CM derived from other tissues. This analysis also pointed to several genes involved in electrophysiology processes responsible for the physiological differences observed between cardiac and non-cardiac-derived cardiomyocytes. Conclusion: AiPSC and ViPSC were differentiated into CMs with equal efficiency. Detected differences in electrophysiological properties, calcium handling activity, and transcription profiles between cardiac and non-cardiac derived cardiomyocytes demonstrated that 1) tissue of origin matters to generate a better-featured iPSC-CMs, 2) the sublocation within the cardiac tissue has marginal effects on the differentiation process.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Lu Wang
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Medicine, School of Engineering, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, United States
| | - Thanh Nguyen
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Medicine, School of Engineering, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, United States
| | - Manuel Rosa-Garrido
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Medicine, School of Engineering, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, United States
| | - Yang Zhou
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Medicine, School of Engineering, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, United States
| | - David C. Cleveland
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Medicine, School of Engineering, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, United States
- Department of Surgery, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, United States
- Children’s Hospital of Alabama, Birmingham, AL, United States
| | - Jianyi Zhang
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Medicine, School of Engineering, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, United States
- Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiovascular Disease, School of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, United States
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Bioengineering Strategies to Create 3D Cardiac Constructs from Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells. Bioengineering (Basel) 2022; 9:bioengineering9040168. [PMID: 35447728 PMCID: PMC9028595 DOI: 10.3390/bioengineering9040168] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/25/2022] [Revised: 04/06/2022] [Accepted: 04/08/2022] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) can be used to generate various cell types in the human body. Hence, hiPSC-derived cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CMs) represent a significant cell source for disease modeling, drug testing, and regenerative medicine. The immaturity of hiPSC-CMs in two-dimensional (2D) culture limit their applications. Cardiac tissue engineering provides a new promise for both basic and clinical research. Advanced bioengineered cardiac in vitro models can create contractile structures that serve as exquisite in vitro heart microtissues for drug testing and disease modeling, thereby promoting the identification of better treatments for cardiovascular disorders. In this review, we will introduce recent advances of bioengineering technologies to produce in vitro cardiac tissues derived from hiPSCs.
Collapse
|