The Role of Reactive Oxygen Species in In Vitro Cardiac Maturation.

Recent advances in developmental biology and biomedical engineering have significantly improved the efficiency and purity of cardiomyocytes (CMs) generated from pluripotent stem cells (PSCs). Regardless of the protocol used to derive CMs, these cells exhibit hallmarks of functional immaturity. In this Opinion, we focus on reactive oxygen species (ROS), signaling molecules that can potentially modulate cardiac maturation.

Temporal Impact of Substrate Anisotropy on Differentiating Cardiomyocyte Alignment and Functionality.

Anisotropic biomaterials can affect cell function by driving cell alignment, which is critical for cardiac engineered tissues. Recent work, however, has shown that pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes may self-align over long periods of time. To determine how the degree of biomaterial substrate anisotropy impacts differentiating cardiomyocyte structure and function, we differentiated mouse embryonic stem cells to cardiomyocytes on nonaligned, semialigned, and aligned fibrous substrates and evaluated cell alignment, contractile displacement, and calcium transient synchronicity over time.

Corrigendum: Efficient decellularization of whole porcine kidneys improves reseeded cell behavior (2016 11 025003).

The manuscript 'Efficient decellularization of whole porcine kidneys improves reseeded cell behavior' (Poornejad et al 2016 Biomedical Materials 11: 025003) describes our efforts to improve the process for recellularization of porcine kidneys. We obtained what we believed to be an immortalized cell line of human renal cortical tubular epithelium (RCTE) cells from the Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University to conduct our reseeding experiments. The RCTE cells that were provided to us were later discovered to actually be Madin-Darby Canine Kidney (MDCK) epithelial cells.

Extracellular Matrix from Whole Porcine Heart Decellularization for Cardiac Tissue Engineering.

Decellularization of whole porcine hearts followed by recellularization with fully differentiated cells made from patient-specific human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) may provide the ultimate solution for patients with heart failure. Decellularization is the process of completely disrupting all cells and removing the cellular components (e.g.

The impact of decellularization agents on renal tissue extracellular matrix.

The combination of patient-specific cells with scaffolds obtained from natural sources may result in improved regeneration of human tissues. Decellularization of the native tissue is the first step in this technology. Effective decellularization uses agents that lyse cells and remove all cellular materials, leaving intact collagenous extracellular matrices (ECMs).

Using Hemolysis as a Novel Method for Assessment of Cytotoxicity and Blood Compatibility of Decellularized Heart Tissues.

Developing patient-specific transplantable organs is a promising response to the increasing need of more effective therapies for patients with organ failure. Advances in tissue engineering strategies have demonstrated favorable results, including the use of decellularized hearts as scaffolds for cardiac engineering; however, there is a need to establish methods to characterize the cytotoxicity and blood compatibility of cardiac extracellular matrix (cECM) scaffolds created by decellularization. In this study, porcine hearts were decellularized in an automated perfusion apparatus utilizing sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) detergent.

Efficient decellularization of whole porcine kidneys improves reseeded cell behavior.

Combining patient-specific cells with the appropriate scaffold to create functional kidneys is a promising technology to provide immunocompatible kidneys for the 100,000+ patients on the organ waiting list. For proper recellularization to occur, the scaffold must possess the critical microstructure and an intact vascular network. Detergent perfusion through the vasculature of a kidney is the preferred method of decellularization; however, harsh detergents could be damaging to the microstructure of the renal tissue and may undesirably solubilize the endogenous growth and signaling factors.

Automation of Pressure Control Improves Whole Porcine Heart Decellularization.

Whole heart decellularization combined with patient-specific cells may prove to be an extremely valuable approach to engineer new hearts. Mild detergents are commonly used in the decellularization process, but are known to denature and solubilize key proteins and growth factors and can therefore be destructive to the extracellular matrix (ECM) during the decellularization process. In this study, the decellularization of porcine hearts was accomplished in 24 h with only 6 h of sodium dodecyl sulfate exposure and 98% DNA removal.

Strategies and processes to decellularize and recellularize hearts to generate functional organs and reduce the risk of thrombosis.

Heart failure is one of the leading causes of death in the United States. Current therapies, such as heart transplants and bioartificial hearts, are helpful, but not optimal. Decellularization of porcine whole hearts followed by recellularization with patient-specific human cells may provide the ultimate solution for patients with heart failure.