16 - Nanomaterial scaffolds for cardiovascular tissue engineering

Abstract

In the 21st century, cardiovascular diseases are a considerable economic burden on global healthcare infrastructure and account for 55% of total mortality in the world. The lack of sufficient supply of heart transplants and restricted restoration ability of cardiac tissue aggrandize the attention toward cardiac tissue engineering to overcome the challenges of regenerating the structure and function of damaged myocardium and other organs of the cardiovascular system. Natural or synthetic biocompatible and biodegradable scaffolds play a significant role in designing functional native cardiac tissue with structural integrity and cell affinity. The integration of bioactive as well as biocompatible scaffolds and nanoengineered approaches (including organic–inorganic nanoparticles, electroconductive polymer conjugated nanocarriers hybrid, nanofeatured surface, carbon nanotubes, and other scaffold-based systems) overcomes several limitations of traditional scaffolds and has offered the immense potential to achieve targeted therapeutic effects in the myocardium. This review highlights nanoengineered scaffold fabrication methodologies with a focus on the performance of nanoenabled approaches at the targeted site for cardiac tissue regeneration. Additionally, the advantages, challenges, and future trends of nanoscaffolds to regulate the microenvironment of stem cells are also explored in the framework.