Abstract
Mechanical stretching has great utility in the control of cardiomyocyte (CM) development for cardiac tissue engineering and in the study of molecular mechanisms of CM function and pathology. The cardiac environment is highly ordered and mechanically active with spontaneous contraction beginning even before convective transport is required in the tissue. Stretching can be used to physiologically mimic these developmental conditions to guide stem cell differentiation to CM lineage with subsequent maturation of the cell-cell junctions and cytoskeletal organization. For regenerative medicine, mechanical stretch may thus be used to improve the contraction capability of the engineered tissues. Additionally, stretch conditioning of cells and tissues may increase their robustness by decreasing the effect of the damaged myocardium on the implanted tissue. Stretch is also a useful tool in the study of heart disease. Much insight into disease progression and etiology may be gained by investigating the mechanotransduction mechanisms involved in the heart disease. Specifically, data gained from stretch-based hypertrophy studies may better define pathological hypertrophy at the molecular level and thus provide treatment targets to improve patient outcomes.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 398-409 |
Number of pages | 12 |
Journal | Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine |
Volume | 12 |
Issue number | 6 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Dec 1 2015 |
Keywords
- Cardiac tissue engineering
- Cardiomyocyte
- Mechanical stretch
- Pathological hypertrophy
- Stem cells
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Medicine (miscellaneous)
- Biomedical Engineering