Seeding cells of tissue-engineered heart valve

ABSTRACT

Computer-based online research was performed in Pubmed Database from January 1995 to January 2008, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) and Vip Database from January 2001 to January 2008. Forty-four publications referred to the seeding cell sources of tissue engineering heart valve demonstrated some disadvantages of clinically used mechanical prosthetic valve and biological valve. Tissue-engineered heart valve had advantages, such as no anticoagulant therapy, infection resistance, cellular viability and the potential to grow and to repair. Seeding cells have different sources, such as blood vessels, bone marrow, blood, umbilical cord, chorionic vesicle and embryonic stem cells, with particular regard to cell phenotypes and their suitability for extracellular matrix production for tissue engineering purposes. Despite an exciting potential for tissue-engineered heart valves, significant technical barriers and clinical problems must be solved and overcome. Further studies should be conducted before widespread clinical application can be envisioned, such as biodegradable polymers, stem cell differentiation, understanding how to harvest the potential of endogenous recruitment of cells and techniques to non-invasively assess the speed and quality of tissue healing and remodeling. This needs to engender a host of novel testing strategies and methods, which will include in vivo safety studies and preclinical studies.