Engineering mechanical-electrical cell microenvironment in myocardium using advanced biomaterials

Abstract

Cardiovascular diseases remain the leading cause of human death worldwide. The development of cardiac tissue engineering has provided a most potential strategy for the treatment of cardiovascular disease through regenerating functional cardiac tissues and restoring dysfunctional myocardium. The occurrence and progress of cardiovascular diseases are closely related to the changes of mechanical and electrical cell microenvironment in native myocardium. In the last decades, with the advances in biomaterials and micro- and nano-fabrication techniques, increasing evidence has demonstrated that the biomimicking of mechanical-electrical cell microenvironment is important for the maturation and functionalization of engineered cardiac tissues for the purpose of myocardium restoration. In this review, we firstly elucidated the biological basis of mechanical properties and electrical signal transmission in native myocardium, including the mechanical and electrical microenvironment in physiological and pathological conditions. Then, we reviewed the current research progress of advanced biomaterials for cardiac tissue engineering applications. Finally, we summarized the development and manipulation of mechanical and electrical microenvironment using advanced biomaterials, and the biological responses of cardiomyocytes and cardiac tissues to the biomimicking mechanical-electrical microenvironment.