A Dexamethasone-Loaded Polymeric Electrospun Construct as a Tubular Cardiovascular Implant.

Cardiovascular tissue engineering is providing many solutions to cardiovascular diseases. The complex disease demands necessitating tissue-engineered constructs with enhanced functionality. In this study, we are presenting the production of a dexamethasone (DEX)-loaded electrospun tubular polymeric poly(l-lactide) (PLA) or poly(d,l-lactide--glycolide) (PLGA) construct which contains iPSC-CMs (induced pluripotent stem cell cardiomyocytes), HUVSMCs (human umbilical vein smooth muscle cells), and HUVECs (human umbilical vein endothelial cells) embedded in fibrin gel.

Silk Fibroin as Adjuvant in the Fabrication of Mechanically Stable Fibrin Biocomposites.

Fibrin is a very attractive material for the development of tissue-engineered scaffolds due to its exceptional bioactivity, versatility in the fabrication, affinity to cell mediators; and the possibility to isolate it from blood plasma, making it autologous. However, fibrin application is greatly limited due to its low mechanical properties, fast degradation, and strong contraction in the presence of cells. In this study, we present a new strategy to overcome these drawbacks by combining it with another natural polymer: silk fibroin.