Transplantation of mesenchymal stem cells within a poly(lactide-co-epsilon-caprolactone) scaffold improves cardiac function in a rat myocardial infarction model.

Objective: Cardiac tissue engineering has been proposed as an appropriate method to repair myocardial infarction (MI). Evidence suggests that a cell with scaffold combination was more effective than a cell-only implant. Nevertheless, to date, there has been no research into elastic biodegradable poly(lactide-co-epsilon-caprolactone) (PLCL) scaffolds. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) with elastic biodegradable PLCL scaffold transplants in a rat MI model.

Results: Ten days after inducing MI through the cryoinjury method, a saline control, MSC, PLCL scaffold, or MSC-seeded PLCL scaffold was transplanted onto the hearts. Four weeks after transplantation, cardiac function and histology were evaluated. Transplanted MSCs survived and differentiated into cardiomyocytes in the injured region. Left ventricular ejection fraction in the MSC+PLCL group increased by 23% compared with that in the saline group; it was also higher in the MSC group. The infarct area in the MSC+PLCL group was decreased by 29% compared with that in the saline group; it was also reduced in the MSC group.

Conclusions: Mesenchymal stem cells plus PLCL should be an excellent combination for cardiac tissue engineering.