Printability, Durability, Contractility and Vascular Network Formation in 3D Bioprinted Cardiac Endothelial Cells Using Alginate-Gelatin Hydrogels.

Background: 3D bioprinting cardiac patches for epicardial transplantation are a promising approach for myocardial regeneration. Challenges remain such as quantifying printability, determining the ideal moment to transplant, and promoting vascularisation within bioprinted patches. We aimed to evaluate 3D bioprinted cardiac patches for printability, durability in culture, cell viability, and endothelial cell structural self-organisation into networks.

Tumstatin regulates the angiogenic and inflammatory potential of airway smooth muscle extracellular matrix.

The extracellular matrix (ECM) creates the microenvironment of the tissue; an altered ECM in the asthmatic airway may be central in airway inflammation and remodelling. Tumstatin is a collagen IV-derived matrikine reduced in the asthmatic airway wall that reverses airway inflammation and remodelling in small and large animal models of asthma. This study hypothesized that the mechanisms underlying the broad asthma-resolving effects of tumstatin were due to autocrine remodelling of the ECM.