Biodegradable Poly-ε-Caprolactone Scaffolds for Tissue-Engineered 3D Tri-Leaflet Valved Stents

Background: Transcatheter pulmonary valve replacement is a minimally invasive alternative treatment for right ventricular outflow tract dysfunction and has been rapidly evolving over the past years. Heart valve prostheses currently available still have major limitations. Therefore, one of the significant challenges for the future is the roll out of transcatheter tissue engineered pulmonary valve replacement to more patients.

Methods: In the present study, biodegradable poly-ε-caprolactone (PCL) nanofiber scaffolds in the form of a 3D leaflet matrix were successfully seeded with human endothelial colony-forming cells (ECFCs), human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived MSCs (hMSCs), and porcine MSCs (pMSCs) for 3 weeks for the generation of 3D tissue-engineered tri-leaflet valved stent grafts. The cell adhesion, proliferation, and distribution of these 3D heart leaflets was analyzed using fluorescence microscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM).

Results: All cell lineages were able to increase the overgrown leaflet area within the 3-week timeframe. While hMSCs showed a consistent growth rate over the course of 3 weeks, ECFSs showed almost no increase between days 7 and 14 until a growth spurt appeared between days 14 and 21. More than 90% of heart valve leaflets were covered with cells after the full 3-week culturing cycle in nearly all leaflet areas, regardless of which cell type was used.

Conclusion: This study shows that seeded biodegradable PCL nanofiber scaffolds incorporated in nitinol or biodegradable stents will offer a new therapeutic option in the future.

No conflict of interest has been declared by the author(s).

Publication History

Article published online:
11 February 2025