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2013|14 Annual Report Fraunhofer IGB

74 STRATEGIES FOR HEART VALVE TISSUE ENGINEERING AND CARDIOVASCULAR REGENERATIVE MEDICINE Svenja Hinderer M.Sc., Shannon Layland B.A., Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Katja Schenke-Layland M.Sc. Lack of regeneration of damaged heart valves and heart muscle tissue Despite significant advances in cardiology and cardiac surgery, diseases of the cardiovascular system are still the number one causes of death worldwide. Heart valves and heart muscles are often affected causing a significant reduction of heart function and quality of life for the patient. There is very little to no regeneration of the adult heart in cases of acute or chronic damage. As with a large number of research groups, the Fraunhofer IGB is working on the important goal of re- storing the normal function and performance of the heart. Producing a synthetic heart valve mimicking nature’s blueprint There are currently a number of different transplants avail- able to replace a defective heart valve. However, the currently available prostheses are limited to a maximum use of 25 years. For pediatric patients, prostheses must be exchanged after a number of years because they do not grow with the child. To overcome this limitation, we are developing a heart valve de- signed to grow with the body by mimicking the valves natural architecture. The adhering, proliferating and differentiation of cells is influenced by their environment. Synthetic substrates with varying mechanical and biochemical properties can greatly affect the behavior of cells. After a detailed analysis of the native heart valve for architecture, mechanical and bio- chemical properties, we have developed a synthetic, biocom- patible hybrid material by electrospinning, whose properties resemble those of the native heart valve. We were further able to biofunctionalize the synthetic materials with extracel- lular matrix proteins that we discovered were essential for human heart valve development. Using a specially designed bioreactor system, we were able to demonstrate the in vitro function of the heart valve, showing that it could perform un- der the intense pressure of the heart [1]. Due to the lengthy and complicated process of medicinal product authorization, we are working on an “off the shelf” cell-free heart valve replacement that can be adapted to the size of the patient. The material is currently being modified to attract circulating endothelial progenitor cells in the blood. Protein production for heart valves tissue engineering and heart muscle regeneration We have identified extracellular matrix proteins that are im- portant in the development of human heart valves and myo- cardial regeneration. At the Fraunhofer IGB, we are producing these proteins which we have applied to a carrier substrate in the development of a cardiac valve replacement. In collabora- tion with our partner, Dr. Ali Nsair of the University of Cali- fornia (UCLA), the proteins have been injected into the infarct region of mouse hearts, which led to a significant improve- ment in cardiac output that is similar to current adult stem cell therapies. Based on this data, patents have been filed for the use of our proteins in cardiac regeneration therapies. 1 MEDICINE

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