Elastin-Based Materials: Promising Candidates for Cardiac Tissue Regeneration

Abstract

Stroke and cardiovascular episodes are still some of the most common diseases worldwide, causing millions of deaths and costing billions of Euros to healthcare systems. The use of new biomaterials with enhanced biological and physical properties has opened the door to new approaches in cardiovascular applications. Elastin-based materials are biomaterials with some of the most promising properties. Indeed, these biomaterials have started to yield good results in cardiovascular and angiogenesis applications. In this review, we explore the latest trends in elastin-derived materials for cardiac regeneration and the different possibilities that are being explored by researchers to regenerate an infarcted muscle and restore its normal function. Elastin-based materials can be processed in different manners to create injectable systems or hydrogel scaffolds that can be applied by simple injection or as patches to cover the damaged area and regenerate it. Such materials have been applied to directly regenerate the damaged cardiac muscle and to create complex structures, such as heart valves or new bio-stents that could help to restore the normal function of the heart or to minimize damage after a stroke. We will discuss the possibilities that elastin-based materials offer in cardiac tissue engineering, either alone or in combination with other biomaterials, in order to illustrate the wide range of options that are being explored. Moreover, although tremendous advances have been achieved with such elastin-based materials, there is still room for new approaches that could trigger advances in cardiac tissue regeneration.

Evaluation of Marine Agarose Biomaterials for Tissue Engineering Applications

“…Scaffolds play a crucial role in maintaining and controlling cell functions and are the main responsible for the biomechanical properties of the bioartificial tissues [ 3 ]. Therefore, biomaterials used as scaffolds in tissue engineering should display adequate biomechanical properties, along with adequate biocompatibility and other characteristics such as bioresorption or biodegradation, adequate internal morphology and cell-friendly fabrication [ 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 ].…”

Spatial distribution and network morphology of epicardial, endocardial, interstitial, and Purkinje cell-associated elastin fibers in porcine left ventricle

“…Moreover, the unique biomechanical properties and microstructure of the native epicardial layer deem it an option as a potential tissue-derived scaffolds for cardiac patch application after decellularization. For cardiac tissue engineering, Gonzalez de Torre et al reviewed the advances and importance of using elastin-based materials for cardiac tissue regeneration applications [ 64 ]. Elastin-based scaffolds were found suitable as cardiac therapeutics by not only providing mechanical properties and guiding cardiomyocyte adhesion and proliferation, but also triggering angiogenesis to functionalize the final product [ [64] , [65] , [66] , [67] ].…”

From Soft to Hard Biomimetic Materials: Tuning Micro/Nano-Architecture of Scaffolds for Tissue Regeneration

“…These scaffolds were prepared by melt–extrusion additive manufacturing and functionalized with laminin-1 [ 98 ]. Polyurethane-based elastomers have been often employed for the cardiac scaffold production due to their tunable elasticity [ 99 ].…”