Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
12.3.5
Skeletal Muscle Grafts
Skeletal muscle is responsible for the control of voluntary move-
ment and the maintenance of structural contours of the body.
Muscle loss or deficiency is encountered in various pathological
states (by disease or trauma), and attempts to correct them have
been employed with limited success.
30
Mature skeletal muscle tis-
sue is composed of multinucleated, postmitotic fibers that do not
regenerate following injury. Locally, quiescent populations of myo-
genic progenitors exist, which will fuse with existing or damaged
myotubes to form new ones. In major injuries where the mus-
cle structure is irreversibly compromised, engineered muscle con-
structs may overcome problems of muscle transfers and provide
a successful replacement device for muscle regeneration. There-
fore, tissue engineering of skeletal muscle, although challenging,
is an exciting alternative to surgical techniques for skeletal mus-
cle regeneration. Skeletal muscle tissue engineering is a promising
interdisciplinary specialty that aims at the reconstruction of skele-
tal muscle loss caused by traumatic injury, congenital defects, or
tumor ablations. Due to the di
culty in procuring donor tissue, the
possibilities for alternative treatment such as autologous grafting
(e.g., muscle flaps) are limited. This process also presents consis-
tentproblemswithdonorsitemorbidity.Skeletalmuscletissueengi-
neeringtriestoovercomethisproblembygeneratingnewfunctional
muscle tissue from autologous precursor cells (stem cells). Multiple
stem cells from different sources can be utilized for restoration of
differentiatedskeletalmuscletissueusingtissueengineeringprinci-
ples. Researchers have explored the use of electrospun microfibers
made from degradable polyester urethane (PEU) as scaffolds for
skeletalmuscletissueengineering.
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Onthebasisoftheabovestud-
ies using primary human satellite cells (biopsy from a 38-year-old
female), C2C12 (murin myoblast cell line), and L6 (rat myoblast cell
line)indicatedthattheelectrospunmicrofibersofPEUshowedsatis-
factorymechanicalpropertiesandanencouragingcellularresponse
in terms of adhesion and differentiation. On the basis of these stud-
ies, the electrospun microfibers of PEU show potential to be further
exploredasascaffoldingsystemforskeletalmuscletissueengineer-
ing.
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