Ultra-rapid manufacturing of engineered epicardial substitute to regenerate cardiac tissue following acute ischemic injury.

Considering the impaired regenerative capacity of adult mammalian heart tissue, cardiovascular tissue engineering aims to create functional substitutes that can restore the structure and function of the damaged cardiac tissue. The success of cardiac regenerative therapies has been limited mainly due to poor control on the structure and properties of the tissue substitute, lack of vascularization, and immunogenicity. In this study we introduce a new approach to rapidly engineer dense biomimetic scaffolds consisting of type I collagen, to protect the heart against severe ischemic injury. Scaffold biomechanical properties are adjusted to mimic embryonic epicardium which is shown to be optimal to support cardiomyocyte contractile work. Moreover, the designed patch can serve as a delivery device for targeted, controlled release of cells or therapeutic macromolecules into the lesion area.