Department of Cardiology, First Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan 450052, China.
Biomaterials. 2011 Dec;32(35):9290-9. doi: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2011.08.057. Epub 2011 Sep 1.
Cardiac dysfunction following acute myocardial infarction is a major cause of advanced cardiomyopathy. Conventional pharmacological therapies rely on prompt reperfusion and prevention of repetitive maladaptive pathways. Keratin biomaterials can be manufactured in an autologous fashion and are effective in various models of tissue regeneration. However, its potential application in cardiac regeneration has not been tested. Keratin biomaterials were derived from human hair and its structure morphology, carryover of beneficial factors, biocompatibility with cardiomyocytes, and in vivo degradation profile were characterized. After delivery into infarcted rat hearts, the keratin scaffolds were efficiently infiltrated by cardiomyocytes and endothelial cells. Injection of keratin biomaterials promotes angiogenesis but does not exacerbate inflammation in the post-MI hearts. Compared to control-injected animals, keratin biomaterials-injected animals exhibited preservation of cardiac function and attenuation of adverse ventricular remodeling over the 8 week following time course. Tissue western blot analysis revealed up-regulation of beneficial factors (BMP4, NGF, TGF-beta) in the keratin-injected hearts. The salient functional benefits, the simplicity of manufacturing and the potentially autologous nature of this biomaterial provide impetus for further translation to the clinic.
急性心肌梗死后的心脏功能障碍是晚期心肌病的主要原因。传统的药物治疗依赖于及时再灌注和预防反复的适应性途径。角蛋白生物材料可以自体制造，并且在各种组织再生模型中都有效。然而，其在心脏再生中的潜在应用尚未得到测试。角蛋白生物材料来源于人类头发，其结构形态、有益因素的传递、与心肌细胞的生物相容性以及体内降解情况都得到了表征。将角蛋白支架递送到梗死大鼠心脏后，心肌细胞和内皮细胞可以有效地渗透到支架中。角蛋白生物材料的注射可促进血管生成，但不会加重心肌梗死后的炎症。与对照注射动物相比，角蛋白生物材料注射动物在 8 周的时间过程中表现出心脏功能的保存和对不良心室重构的减弱。组织 Western blot 分析显示，角蛋白注射心脏中有益因子（BMP4、NGF、TGF-β）的上调。这种生物材料的显著功能益处、制造的简单性以及潜在的自体性质为进一步向临床转化提供了动力。
