Organ Transplantation Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Organ Transplantation, including details on risks, prognosis, procedure, surgery.

Development of a biological ventricular assist device: preliminary data from a small animal model.

Yildirim Y, Naito H, Didié M, Karikkineth BC, Biermann D, Eschenhagen T, Zimmermann WH

Institute of Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Martinistr. 52, 20246 Hamburg, Germany.

BACKGROUND: Engineered heart tissue (EHT) can be generated from cardiomyocytes and extracellular matrix proteins and used to repair local heart muscle defects in vivo. Here, we hypothesized that pouch-like heart muscle constructs can be generated by using a novel EHT-casting technology and applied as heart-embracing cardiac grafts in vivo. METHODS AND RESULTS: Pouch-like EHTs (inner/outer diameter: 10/12 mm) can be generated mainly from neonatal rat heart cells, collagen type I, and serum containing culture medium. They contain a dense network of connexin 43 interconnected cardiomyocytes and an endo-/epicardial surface lining composed of prolylhydroxylase positive cells. Pouch-like EHTs beat spontaneously and show contractile properties of native heart muscle including positive inotropic responses to calcium and isoprenaline. First implantation studies indicate that pouch-like EHTs can be slipped over uninjured adult rat hearts to completely cover the left and right ventricles. Fourteen days after implantation, EHT-grafts stably covered the epicardial surface of the respective hearts. Engrafted EHTs were composed of matrix and differentiated cardiac muscle as well as newly formed vessels which were partly donor-derived. CONCLUSIONS: Pouch-like EHTs can be generated with structural and functional properties of native myocardium. Implantation studies demonstrated their applicability as cardiac muscle grafts, setting the stage for an evaluation of EHT-pouches as biological ventricular assist devices in vivo.

Published 11 September 2007 in Circulation, 116(11): I16-23.
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