Biomaterial property-controlled stem cell fates for cardiac regeneration

Myocardial infarction (MI) affects more than 8 million people in the United States alone. Due to the

insufficient regeneration capacity of the native myocardium, one widely studied approach is cardiac

tissue engineering, in which cells are delivered with or without biomaterials and/or regulatory factors to

fully regenerate the cardiac functions. Specifically, in vitro cardiac tissue engineering focuses on using

biomaterials as a reservoir for cells to attach, as well as a carrier of various regulatory factors such as

growth factors and peptides, providing high cell retention and a proper microenvironment for cells to

migrate, grow and differentiate within the scaffolds before implantation. Many studies have shown that

the full establishment of a functional cardiac tissue in vitro requires synergistic actions between the

seeded cells, the tissue culture condition, and the biochemical and biophysical environment provided by

the biomaterials-based scaffolds. Proper electrical stimulation and mechanical stretch during the in vitro

culture can induce the ordered orientation and differentiation of the seeded cells. On the other hand, the

various scaffolds biochemical and biophysical properties such as polymer composition, ligand concentration,

biodegradability, scaffold topography and mechanical properties can also have a significant effect

on the cellular processes.