Issue 39, 2013

Nanoengineering gold particle composite fibers for cardiac tissue engineering

Abstract

Gold nanostructures can be incorporated into macroporous scaffolds to increase the matrix conductivity and enhance the electrical signal transfer between cardiac cells. Here we report a simple approach for fabricating 3-dimensional (3D) gold nanoparticle (NP)-based fibrous scaffolds, for engineering functional cardiac tissues generating a strong contraction force. A polycaprolactone–gelatin mixture was electrospun to obtain fibrous scaffolds with an average fiber diameter of 250 nm. In a facile method, gold NPs were evaporated on the surface of the fibers, creating nanocomposites with a nominal gold thickness of 2, 4, and 14 nm. Compared to pristine scaffolds, cardiac cells seeded on the nano-gold scaffolds assembled into more elongated and aligned tissues. The gold NPs on the fibers were able to maintain the ratio of cardiomyocytes to fibroblasts in the culture, to encourage the growth of cardiomyocytes with significantly higher aspect ratio, and promote massive cardiac sarcomeric actinin expression. Finally, engineering cardiac tissues within gold NP-based scaffolds exhibited significantly higher contraction amplitudes and rates, as compared to scaffolds without gold. We envision that cardiac tissues engineered within these gold NP scaffolds can be used to improve the function of the infarcted heart.

Graphical abstract: Nanoengineering gold particle composite fibers for cardiac tissue engineering

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
23 Apr 2013
Accepted
10 Jun 2013
First published
10 Jun 2013

J. Mater. Chem. B, 2013,1, 5210-5217

Nanoengineering gold particle composite fibers for cardiac tissue engineering

M. Shevach, B. M. Maoz, R. Feiner, A. Shapira and T. Dvir, J. Mater. Chem. B, 2013, 1, 5210 DOI: 10.1039/C3TB20584C

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements