Gold Nanoparticle-Functionalized Reverse Thermal Gel for Tissue Engineering Applications.

Abstract

Utilizing polymers in cardiac tissue engineering holds promise for restoring function to the heart following myocardial infarction, which is associated with grave morbidity and mortality. To properly mimic native cardiac tissue, materials must not only support cardiac cell growth but also have inherent conductive properties. Here, we present an injectable reverse thermal gel (RTG)-based cardiac cell scaffold system that is both biocompatible and conductive. Following the synthesis of a highly functionalizable, biomimetic RTG backbone, gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) were chemically conjugated to the backbone to enhance the system's conductivity. The resulting RTG-AuNP hydrogel supported targeted survival of neonatal rat ventricular myocytes (NRVMs) for up to 21 days when cocultured with cardiac fibroblasts, leading to an increase in connexin 43 (Cx43) relative to control cultures (NRVMs cultured on traditional gelatin-coated dishes and RTG hydrogel without AuNPs). This biomimetic and conductive RTG-AuNP hydrogel holds promise for future cardiac tissue engineering applications.

• Authors: Brisa Peña, Marcos Maldonado, Andrew J Bonham, Brian A Aguado, Antonio Dominguez-Alfaro, Melissa Laughter, Teisha J Rowland, James Bardill, Nikki L Farnsworth, Nuria Alegret Ramon, Matthew R G Taylor, Kristi S Anseth, Maurizio Prato, Robin Shandas, Timothy A McKinsey, Daewon Park, Luisa Mestroni
• Journal: ACS applied materials & interfaces (ACS Appl Mater Interfaces) Vol. 11 Issue 20 Pg. 18671-18680 (May 22 2019) ISSN: 1944-8252 [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 31021594 (Publication Type: Journal Article)

Chemical References

• Hydrogels
• Gold

Topics

• Animals
• Coculture Techniques
• Fibroblasts (metabolism, pathology)
• Gold (chemistry)
• Hydrogels (chemistry)
• Materials Testing
• Metal Nanoparticles (chemistry)
• Myocardial Infarction (metabolism, therapy)
• Myocardium (metabolism, pathology)
• Myocytes, Cardiac (metabolism, pathology)
• Rats
• Rats, Sprague-Dawley
• Tissue Engineering
• Tissue Scaffolds (chemistry)