Functionalised peptide hydrogel for the delivery of cardiac progenitor cells
Kyle A. Burgess, Caterina Frati, K. Meade, Jie Gao, L. Díaz, Denise Madeddu, Gallia Graiani, Stefano Cavalli, Aline F. Miller, Delvac Oceandy, Federico Quaini, Alberto Saiani
Abstract
Heart failure (HF) remains one of the leading causes of death worldwide; most commonly developing after myocardial infarction (MI). Since adult cardiomyocytes characteristically do not proliferate, cells lost during MI are not replaced. As a result, the heart has a limited regenerative capacity. There is, therefore, a need to develop novel cell-based therapies to promote the regeneration of the heart after MI. The delivery and retention of cells at the injury site remains a significant challenge. In this context, we explored the potential of using an injectable, RGDSP-functionalised self-assembling peptide - FEFEFKFK - hydrogel as scaffold for the delivery and retention of rat cardiac progenitor cells (CPCs) into the heart. Our results show that culturing CPCs in vitro within the hydrogel for one-week promoted their spontaneous differentiation towards adult cardiac phenotypes. Injection of the hydrogel on its own, or loaded with CPCs, into the rat after injury resulted in a significant reduction in myocardial damage and left ventricular dilation.