SHIMIZU Tatsuya
   Department   Research Institutes and Facilities, Research Institutes and Facilities
   Position   Professor
Article types Original article
Language English
Peer review Peer reviewed
Title Cell sheet engineering for myocardial tissue reconstruction.
Journal Formal name:Biomaterials
Abbreviation:Biomaterials
ISSN code:(0142-9612)0142-9612(Linking)
Domestic / ForeginForegin
Volume, Issue, Page 24(13),pp.2309-16
Author and coauthor Shimizu Tatsuya†, Yamato Masayuki, Kikuchi Akihiko, Okano Teruo*
Authorship Lead author
Publication date 2003/06
Summary Myocardial tissue engineering has now emerged as one of the most promising treatments for the patients suffering from severe heart failure. Tissue engineering has currently been based on the technology using three-dimensional (3-D) biodegradable scaffolds as alternatives for extracellular matrix. According to this most popular technique, several types of 3-D myocardial tissues have been successfully engineered by seeding cardiomyocytes into poly(glycolic acid), gelatin, alginate or collagen scaffolds. However, insufficient cell migration into the scaffolds and inflammatory reaction due to scaffold biodegradation remain problems to be solved. In contrast to these technologies, we now propose novel tissue engineering methodology layering cell sheets to construct 3-D functional tissues without any artificial scaffolds. Confluent cells on temperature-responsive culture surfaces can be harvested as a viable contiguous cell sheet only by lowering temperature without any enzymatic digestions. Electrical communications are established between layered cardiomyocyte sheets, resulting in simultaneous beating 3-D myocardial tissues. Layered cardiomyocyte sheets in vivo present long survival, macroscopic pulsation and characteristic structures of native heart tissue. Cell sheet engineering should have enormous potential for fabricating clinically applicable myocardial tissues and should promote tissue engineering research fields.
DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/S0142-9612(03)00110-8
PMID 12699668