Affiliations 

  • 1 Faculty of Pharmacy, Lincoln University College, Petaling Jaya, 47301, Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Electronic address: bapi@lincoln.edu.my
  • 2 School of Pharmacy, International Medical University, Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
  • 3 Pharmaceutics Division, CSIR-Central Drug Research Institute, Lucknow, UP, India
  • 4 School of Pharmacy, University of Queensland, Woolloongabba, QLD 4102, Australia
  • 5 National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER), Sarkhej - Gandhinagar Highway, Thaltej, Ahmedabad, 380054, Gujarat, India
  • 6 Department of Pharmaceutics, Faculty of Pharmacy, University Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Puncak Alam Campus, Bandar Puncak Alam 42300, Selangor, Malaysia. Electronic address: zahid3224@puncakalam.uitm.edu.my
Biomed Pharmacother, 2018 Aug;104:496-508.
PMID: 29800914 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopha.2018.05.066

Abstract

Myocardial infarction (cardiac tissue death) is among the most prevalent causes of death among the cardiac patients due to the inability of self-repair in cardiac tissues. Myocardial tissue engineering is regarded as one of the most realistic strategies for repairing damaged cardiac tissue. However, hindrance in transduction of electric signals across the cardiomyocytes due to insulating properties of polymeric materials worsens the clinical viability of myocardial tissue engineering. Aligned and conductive scaffolds based on Carbon nanotubes (CNT) have gained remarkable recognition due to their exceptional attributes which provide synthetic but viable microenvironment for regeneration of engineered cardiomyocytes. This review presents an overview and critical analysis of pharmaceutical implications and therapeutic feasibility of CNT based scaffolds in improving the cardiac tissue regeneration and functionality. The expository analysis of the available evidence revealed that inclusion of single- or multi-walled CNT into fibrous, polymeric, and elastomeric scaffolds results in significant improvement in electrical stimulation and signal transduction through cardiomyocytes. Moreover, incorporation of CNT in engineering scaffolds showed a greater potential of augmenting cardiomyocyte proliferation, differentiation, and maturation and has improved synchronous beating of cardiomyocytes. Despite promising ability of CNT in promoting functionality of cardiomyocytes, their presence in scaffolds resulted in substantial improvement in mechanical properties and structural integrity. Conclusively, this review provides new insight into the remarkable potential of CNT aligned scaffolds in improving the functionality of engineered cardiac tissue and signifies their feasibility in cardiac tissue regenerative medicines and stem cell therapy.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.