Carbon-Nanotube-Embedded Hydrogel Sheets for Engineering Cardiac Constructs and Bioactuators
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- 作者：Su Ryon Shin ; Sung Mi Jung ; Momen Zalabany ; Keekyoung Kim ; Pinar Zorlutuna ; Sang bok Kim ; Mehdi Nikkhah ; Masoud Khabiry ; Mohamed Azize ; Jing Kong ; Kai-tak Wan ; Tomas Palacios ; Mehmet R. Dokmeci ; Hojae Bae ; Xiaowu (Shirley) Tang ; Ali Khademhosseini
- 刊名：ACS Nano
- 出版年：2013
- 出版时间：March 26, 2013
- 年：2013
- 卷：7
- 期：3
- 页码：2369-2380
- 全文大小：920K
- 年卷期：v.7,no.3(March 26, 2013)
- ISSN：1936-086X
文摘
We engineered functional cardiac patches by seeding neonatal rat cardiomyocytes onto carbon nanotube (CNT)-incorporated photo-cross-linkable gelatin methacrylate (GelMA) hydrogels. The resulting cardiac constructs showed excellent mechanical integrity and advanced electrophysiological functions. Specifically, myocardial tissues cultured on 50 渭m thick CNT-GelMA showed 3 times higher spontaneous synchronous beating rates and 85% lower excitation threshold, compared to those cultured on pristine GelMA hydrogels. Our results indicate that the electrically conductive and nanofibrous networks formed by CNTs within a porous gelatin framework are the key characteristics of CNT-GelMA leading to improved cardiac cell adhesion, organization, and cell鈥揷ell coupling. Centimeter-scale patches were released from glass substrates to form 3D biohybrid actuators, which showed controllable linear cyclic contraction/extension, pumping, and swimming actuations. In addition, we demonstrate for the first time that cardiac tissues cultured on CNT-GelMA resist damage by a model cardiac inhibitor as well as a cytotoxic compound. Therefore, incorporation of CNTs into gelatin, and potentially other biomaterials, could be useful in creating multifunctional cardiac scaffolds for both therapeutic purposes and in vitro studies. These hybrid materials could also be used for neuron and other muscle cells to create tissue constructs with improved organization, electroactivity, and mechanical integrity.