A boron-doped graphene quantum dot (B-GQD) as a metal-free multimodal contrast agent (CA) for safe magnetic resonance imaging and fluorescence is reported. In vivo T1-weighted images show that B-GQDs induce significant enhancement on the heart, liver, spleen, kidney, sustain more than 1 h, about 10 times longer Gd-based CAs currently used in clinic. As service to our authors readers, this journal provides supporting information supplied by authors. Such materials are peer reviewed may be...

Natural polymer hydrogels are used ubiquitously as scaffold materials for cardiac tissue engineering well soft more broadly because of FDA approval, minimal immunogenicity, and well-defined physiological clearance pathways. However, the relationships between natural resident cell populations in directing development engineered tissues poorly defined. This interaction is particular concern prepared with iPSC-derived populations, which population purity batch-to-batch variability become...

Nanoparticles (NPs) for targeted therapy are required to have appropriate size, stability, drug loading and release profiles, efficient targeting ligands. However, many of the existing NPs such as albumin, liposomes, polymers, gold NPs, etc. encounter size limit, toxicity stability issues when loaded with drugs, fluorophores, Furthermore, antibodies bulky this can greatly affect physicochemical properties whereas small molecule-based ligands lack specificity. Here, we report utilization...

Abstract Cardiotoxicity of pharmaceutical drugs, industrial chemicals, and environmental toxicants can be severe, even life threatening, which necessitates a thorough evaluation the human response to chemical compounds. Predicting risks for arrhythmia sudden cardiac death accurately is critical defining safety profiles. Currently available approaches have limitations including focus on single select ion channels, use non-human species in vitro vivo, limited direct physiological translation....

Despite the overwhelming use of cellularized therapeutics in cardiac regenerative engineering, approaches to biomanufacture engineered tissues (ECTs) at clinical scale remain limited. This study aims evaluate impact critical biomanufacturing decisions—namely cell dose, hydrogel composition, and size-on ECT formation function—through lens translation. ECTs were fabricated by mixing human induced pluripotent stem-cell-derived cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CMs) fibroblasts into a collagen engineer...

A great variety of natural and synthetic polymer materials have been utilized in soft tissue engineering as extracellular matrix (ECM) materials. Natural polymers, such collagen fibrin hydrogels, experienced especially broad adoption due to the high density cell adhesion sites compared their counterparts, ready availability, ease use. However, these other hydrogels lack structural mechanical anisotropy that define ECM many tissues, skeletal cardiac muscle, tendon, cartilage. Herein, we...

Heart regeneration after myocardial infarction (MI) using human stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (CMs) is rapidly accelerating with large animal and clinical trials. However, vascularization methods to support the engraftment, survival, development of implanted CMs in ischemic environment infarcted heart remain a key timely challenge. To this end, we developed dual remuscularization-revascularization therapy that evaluated rat model ischemia-reperfusion MI. This study details differentiation...

To test the efficacy of metformin (MET) during induction coronary ischemia on myocardial performance in a large animal model artery disease (CAD) and metabolic syndrome (MS), with or without concomitant extracellular vesicular (EV) therapy. Although surgical endovascular revascularization are durably efficacious for many patients CAD, up to one-third poor candidates standard therapies. For these patients, whom have comorbid MS, adjunctive strategies needed. EV therapy has shown promise this...

Engineered tissues designed for translational applications in regenerative medicine require vascular networks to deliver oxygen and nutrients rapidly the implanted cells. A limiting factor of vivo translation is rapid successful inosculation, or connection, host subsequent perfusion implant. An approach gaining favor tissue engineering provide instructive cues from engineered enhance penetration connection with Here, we use a novel vitro platform based on aortic ring assay evaluate impact...

Abstract Cardiotoxicity of pharmaceutical drugs, industrial chemicals, and environmental toxicants can be severe, even life threatening, which necessitates a thorough evaluation the human response to chemical compounds. Predicting risks for arrhythmia sudden cardiac death accurately is critical defining safety profiles. Currently available approaches have limitations including focus on single select ion channels, use non-human species in vitro vivo , limited direct physiological translation....

Reduced vascular perfusion due to aging, ischemia, or injury impedes healing and tissue function in conditions like skin ulcers myocardial infarction, motivating development of therapies restore vasculature locally target tissues. We hypothesize that specific combinations signaling molecules stimulate angiogenesis remodeling the local environment increase perfused vessel density. Using a engineering approach with fractional factorial design experiments (DOE), we evaluated vivo ten growth...

A lack of efficient vessel perfusion in cardiac engineered tissues affects cell viability and limits the success implanted tissues. To address need for vascular infiltration, we have developed a collagen-based construct releasing pro-angiogenic growth factors. The constructs were rodent model myocardial infarction four days after ischemia/reperfusion injury. Angiogenesis assessment was performed 4 weeks implantation by 2D histological analysis with RECA-1 antibody Microfil® (Flow Tech, MA)...

Globally, >6 million patients with heart failure (HF) have reduced ejection fraction due to prior myocardial infarction (MI). In the U.S., 50,000 become refractory treatment each year and novel therapies are urgently needed treat systolic dysfunction, as treatments restore cardiac muscle not available. Human embryonic or induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (hESC/hiPSC-CMs) emerged a leading candidate therapy for replacing CMs lost MI being evaluated in preclinical models...

Advances in cardiovascular interventions have significantly decreased mortality due to acute myocardial infarction (MI). However, heart failure (HF) as a main sequela remains major and devastating health burden. Globally, ~13 million people suffer from HF with systolic dysfunction no clinically available treatment remuscularize their failing heart. Regenerative therapies using cardiomyocytes derived embryonic or human-induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSC-CMs) emerged large animal models...