| Cardiovascular |
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Diseases of the cardiovascular system remain the leading cause of morbidity
and mortality worldwide. Approximately 57 million North American people
suffer from one or more forms of cardiovascular disease and the cost of
treatment exceeds $260 billion. Cardiovascular tissue engineering focuses
on the development of the blood vessels, heart valves, and myocardium.
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| Blood
Vessels |
| The
majority of patients with peripheral and coronary vascular atherosclerosis
need blood vessel substitutes to reestablish vascular continuity. The
ideal biological replacement for blood vessel should be able to properly
function, repair, remodel, and grow. It should posses appropriate mechanical
strength and be able to relax and contract in response to certain stimuli.
The internal surface needs to be lined with intact and functioning endothelial
cells to prevent thrombosis and to regulate vasomotor tone. Current approaches
in tissue engineering of blood vessels use either non-living acellular
scaffolds or synthetic materials (biodegradable polymers) and autologous
cellular components to achieve the goal of creating an ideal blood vessel
substitute. |
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Cast of an aorta and left coronary artery with a close up view into the
left ventricle. |
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| Heart
Valves |
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300,000 procedures for repair or replacement of heart valves are performed
annually worldwide. Over 95% of these operations account for valves in
the systemic circulation. The currently available prosthetic heart valves
have excellent durability but need life long anticoagulation to prevent
clotting and are also susceptible to infections. The alternatively used
bio prostheses (porcine valves or bovine pericardium) provide better fluid
dynamics and don't require anticoagulation. However, these valves have
limited durability. None of the currently used valve devices provides
growth potential. The tissue engineering of heart valves focuses on the
development of a functional identical copy of a healthy heart valve. |
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| Myocardium |
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| Heart
transplantation is the only established therapy for end-stage heart failure;
however, the shortage of donor organs has become a major limitation. The
transplantation waiting lists worldwide are increasing and patients have
to wait longer to get a heart transplant. For this reason there has been
great interest in cell transplantation as an alternative to heart transplantation.
Using the principles of tissue engineering, we are currently investigating
cardiomyocytes transplantation with polymers to generate new tissue replacement.
The purpose of our studies is to investigate the effects of different
polymers on the function and survival of injected cardiomyocytes in vitro
and in vivo, to establish a method of injecting a critical mass of cardiomyocytes
and to improve heart function. |
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