Atya Abdulraheem M N, Tevlek Atakan, Almemar Muhannad, Gökcen Dincer, Aydin Halil Murat
Bioengineering Division, Institute of Science, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey.
Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey.
Biomed Mater. 2021 Oct 26;16(6). doi: 10.1088/1748-605X/ac2dd3.
Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are responsible for the major number of deaths around the world. Among these is heart failure after myocardial infarction whose latest therapeutic methods are limited to slowing the end-state progression. Numerous strategies have been developed to meet the increased demand for therapies regarding CVDs. This study aimed to establish a novel electrically conductive elastomer-based composite and assess its potential as a cardiac patch for myocardial tissue engineering. The electrically conductive carbon aerogels (CAs) used in this study were derived from waste paper as a cost-effective carbon source and they were combined with the biodegradable poly(glycerol-sebacate) (PGS) elastomer to obtain an electrically conductive cardiac patch material. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report about the conductive composites obtained by the incorporation of CAs into PGS (CA-PGS). In this context, the incorporation of the CAs into the polymeric matrix significantly improved the elastic modulus (from 0.912 MPa for the pure PGS elastomer to 0.366 MPa for the CA-PGS) and the deformability (from 0.792 MPa for the pure PGS to 0.566 MPa for CA-PGS). Overall, the mechanical properties of the obtained structures were observed similar to the native myocardium. Furthermore, the addition of CAs made the obtained structures electrically conductive with a conductivity value of 65 × 10S mwhich falls within the range previously recorded for human myocardium. Thecytotoxicity assay with L929 murine fibroblast cells revealed that the CA-PGS composite did not have cytotoxic characteristics. On the other hand, the studies conducted with H9C2 rat cardiac myoblasts revealed that final structures were suitable for MTE applications according to the successes in cell adhesion, cell proliferation, and cell behavior.
心血管疾病（CVDs）是全球主要的死亡原因。其中包括心肌梗死后的心力衰竭，其最新治疗方法仅限于减缓终末期进展。为满足对心血管疾病治疗日益增长的需求，已开发出多种策略。本研究旨在制备一种新型的基于导电弹性体的复合材料，并评估其作为心肌组织工程心脏贴片的潜力。本研究中使用的导电碳气凝胶（CAs）源自废纸，作为一种经济高效的碳源，并与可生物降解的聚（甘油 - 癸二酸酯）（PGS）弹性体结合，以获得一种导电心脏贴片材料。据我们所知，这是关于通过将CAs掺入PGS（CA - PGS）获得的导电复合材料的首次报道。在此背景下，将CAs掺入聚合物基体显著提高了弹性模量（从纯PGS弹性体的0.912 MPa提高到CA - PGS的0.366 MPa）和可变形性（从纯PGS的0.792 MPa提高到CA - PGS的0.566 MPa）。总体而言，观察到所得结构的力学性能与天然心肌相似。此外，添加CAs使所得结构具有导电性，电导率值为65×10 S m，落在先前记录的人类心肌范围内。用L929小鼠成纤维细胞进行的细胞毒性试验表明，CA - PGS复合材料没有细胞毒性特征。另一方面，用H9C2大鼠心肌成肌细胞进行的研究表明，根据细胞黏附、细胞增殖和细胞行为方面的成功情况，最终结构适用于心肌组织工程应用。
