Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
vivo characteristics of pulsatile 3D myocardial tissues fabricated by
using cell sheet engineering.
A Protease treatment
Disruption of cell-cell junctions,
surface proteins, and ECM
Cell-cell junctions
including GJs
Surface proteins
including GJ precursors
ECM
Protease
treatment
Cell culture dish
Hydrophobicsurface
Hydrophobicsurface
B Te mperature-responsive culture surface
Cardiac cell sheet
Preservation of cell-cell junctions,
surface proteins and ECM
20
°C
37
°C
Te mperature-responsive
culture surface
By lowering
temperature
Hydrophilic surface
Hydrophobicsurface
Figure 6b.1
Preparation of a cell sheet using a temperature-responsive
culture surface without protease treatment. (A) A typical cell
harvest using proteases results in the disruption of cell-cell
junctions, cell surface proteins, and extracellular matrix (ECM)
(B) When temperature-responsive culture surfaces are used,
the structures of the cells are preserved and cultured cells are
released as a contiguous cell sheet.
6b.2
In vitro Fabrication of Pulsatile Myocardial
Tissue by Layering Cell Sheets
Using a temperature-responsive culture surface, confluent neonatal
rat cardiac cells can be harvested as a single cardiac cell sheet without
the disruption of cell-cell junctions, cell surface proteins, and ECM.
In the fabrication of myocardial tissue, it is a crucial point whether
electrical and morphological couplings are established among
cardiomyocytes within the tissue. Thus, the electrophysiological
analyses of a cardiac cell sheet and layered cardiac cell sheets have
been performed using a multiple-electrode extracellular recording
system [43]. A cardiac cell sheet shows a spontaneous beating, and
