Cardiomyocytes scaffold degradation

Surprisingly, the use of cocultures with degradable PUs in cardiac TE systems has been limited when vascular grafts are excluded from the research. A study by Parrag et al. used murine-derived embryonic stem cells (mESCs) and mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEEs) to TE cardiomyocyte-derived tissues. mESCs are pluripotent cells that require proper cues to differentiate into specific cell types. In the study, Parrag et al. showed that both the coculture of mESCs with MEEs and the use of aligned microfi-brous PU scaffolds provided the cues necessary to induce mESC differentiation to a functioning cardiomyocyte phenotype [104]. 

Fromstein, J.D., Zandstra, P.W., Alperin, C., Rockwood, D., Rabolt, J.F., Woodhouse, K.A., 2008. Seeding bioreactor-produced embryonic stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes on different porous, degradable, polyurethane scaffolds reveals the effect of scaffold architecture on cell morphology. Tissue Engineering Part A 14, 369-378. 

Recent investigations have developed polyurethane polymers as scaffold materials. Polyurethane is an elastomeric polymer that is typically nondegradable (Table 37.2, Figure 37.2). Positive attributes, such as flexible mechanical strength and biocompatibihty, has led to the synthesis of degradable polyurethanes with nontoxic diisocyanate derivatives [47,94-96]. Studies have shown that polyurethane scaffolds support cell attachment with chondrocytes, bone marrow stromal cells, and cardiomyocytes [96-98]. 

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