Thanks to the work of a team of bioengineers, doctors have a new way to treat the damaging effects of cardiovascular disease, more commonly known as heart disease. For the first time, artificial heart tissue was created to accurately replicate the functions of natural heart tissue.
The artificial heart tissue was created by a team at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH), using materials that were human-based. This new creation offers an alternative to the current materials used and has the same mechanics and functions as real heart tissue. Proper functionality and strength is lacking in the current materials used to repair hearts that have undergone the damaging effects of a heart attack. Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States.
"Scientists and clinicians alike are eager for new approaches to creating artificial heart tissues that resemble the native tissues as much as possible, in terms of physical properties and function," Nasim Annabi, PhD, BWH Renal Division said in a news release.
"Current biomaterials used to repair hearts after a heart attack and other cardiovascular events lack suitable functionality and strength. We are introducing an alternative that has the mechanical properties and functions of native heart tissue," Annabi said.
Researchers used tropoelastin, the protein found in human tissue responsible for elasticity, to create a rubber-like material they call MeTro gel. Using highly elastic micorpatterned gels made from the MeTro gel, the researchers were able to create heart tissue that contained beating heart-muscle cells.
"The micropatterned gel provides elastic mechanical support of natural heart muscle tissue as demonstrated by its ability to promote attachment, spreading, alignment, function and communication of heart muscle cells," Annabi said.
The MeTro gel will also serve as the blueprint for future studies that examine the behavior of heart cells. The new bioengineered materials also set the foundation for the possible creation of a vascular network containing intricate 3D heart tissues.
"As we continue to move forward with finding better ways to mend a broken heart, we hope the biomaterials we engineer will allow us to successfully address the limitations of current artificial tissues," Ali Khademhosseini, PhD, BWH Division of Biomedical Engineering said. Khademhosseini is a co-senior author of the study published April 26 in the journal Advanced Functional Materials.
