Congenital
heart disease is the number one cause of birth defect-related
death because it often leads to right ventricular heart failure (RVHF).
One promising avenue to combat this RVHF is the use of cardiac patches
composed of stem cells and scaffolds. Herein, we demonstrate a reparative
cardiac patch by combining neonatal or child c-kit+
progenitor cells (CPCs) with a scaffold composed of electrospun polycaprolactone
nanofibers. We examined different parameters of the patch, including
the alignment, composition, and surface properties of the nanofibers,
as well as the age of the CPCs. The patch based on uniaxially aligned
nanofibers successfully aligned the CPCs. With the inclusion of gelatin
in the nanofiber matrix and/or coating of fibronectin on the surface
of the nanofibers, the metabolism of both neonatal and child CPCs
was generally enhanced. The conditioned media collected from both
patches based on aligned and random nanofibers could reduce the fibrotic
gene expression in rat cardiac fibroblasts, following stimulation
with transforming growth factor β. Furthermore, the conditioned
media collected from the nanofiber-based patches could lead to the
formation of tubes of human umbilical vein endothelial cells, indicating
the pro-angiogenic capability of the patch. Taken together, the electrospun
nanofiber-based patches are a suitable delivery vehicle for CPCs and
can confer reparative benefit through anti-fibrotic and pro-angiogenic
paracrine signaling.