The behavior of cardiac progenitor cells on macroporous pericardium-derived scaffolds

Abstract

Cardiovascular diseases hold the highest mortality rate among other illnesses which reveals the significance of current limitations in common therapies. Three-dimensional (3D) scaffolds have been utilized as potential therapies for treating heart failure following myocardial infarction (MI). In particular, native tissues have numerous properties that make them potentially useful scaffolding materials for recreating the native cardiac extracellular matrix (ECM). Here, we have developed a pericardium-derived scaffold that mimics the natural myocardial extracellular environment and investigated its properties for cardiac tissue engineering. Human pericardium membranes (PMs) were decellularized to yield 3D macroporous pericardium scaffolds (PSs) with well-defined architecture and interconnected pores. PSs enabled human Sca-1(+) cardiac progenitor cells (CPCs) to migrate, survive, proliferate and differentiate at higher rates compared with decellularized pericardium membranes (DPMs) and collagen scaffolds (COLs). Interestingly, histological examination of subcutaneous transplanted scaffolds after one month revealed low immunological response, enhanced angiogenesis and cardiomyocyte differentiation in PSs compared to DPMs and COLs. This research demonstrates the feasibility of fabricating 3D porous scaffolds from native ECMs and suggests the therapeutic potential of CPC-seeded PSs in the treatment of ischemic heart diseases.

Keywords: Cardiac progenitor cells; Decellularization; Macroporous scaffold; Myocardial tissue engineering; Pericardium.