Synthetic oxygen carriers in cardiac tissue engineering

The prominence of cardiovascular diseases has prompted investigations into alternative treatment options, including tissue engineering. Currently, the biggest limitation in cardiac tissue engineering lies in delivering oxygen to all cells within the construct. Synthetic oxygen carriers hold much promise in that they have high affinity for oxygen and can be supplemented to culture medium without adverse effect on the cells. This review highlights two complementary studies by our group that utilized oxygen carriers in cardiac tissue engineering. Experimental and modeling studies were performed to evaluate the effect of a perfluorocarbon (PFC)-based synthetic oxygen carrier, Oxygent (TM), on oxygen supply within tissue engineered cardiac constructs. Porous biorubber scaffolds with an array of parallel channels mimicking the capillary network were seeded with cardiomyocytes and fibroblasts, and cultivated in medium supplemented with PFC. The presence of PFC enhanced the transport of oxygen, increased oxygen concentrations, and yielded constructs that displayed stronger cardiac-like phenotype.