Ricerc@Sapienza

Cardiac tissue engineering aims to generate in vivo-like functional tissue for the study of cardiac development, homeostasis, regeneration and disease. Since the heart is composed of various types of cells and extracellular matrix with a specific microenvironment, the fabrication of cardiac tissue in vitro requires integrating technologies of cardiac cells, biomaterials, fabrication to model the complexity of heart tissue. In the current study we aim to evaluate gelatin-based cryogels for the generation of hybrid cellular cardiac tissue. Specifically, we would like to generate a cardiac model of cardiomyocytes and cardiac stromal cell niche, named cardiospheres (CSps). CSps contain a core of primitive, proliferating cells, and an outer layer of mesenchymal/stromal cells and differentiating cells that express cardiomyocyte-specific proteins and are characterized by high paracrine activity and tissue remodeling properties which should help CM maturation and functionality. Moreover, the hybrid scaffold could represent a valid model to study stromal cell population and myofibroblast activation and proliferation following myocardial infarction and could represent a powerful tool to evaluate the remodeling process as well as for the screening of new drugs.