Creation of tissue engineering heart valve from human mesenchymal stem cells

Objective To investigate the feasibility of creating tissue engineering heart valve from human mesenchymal stem cell (MSCs) as an alternative cell source.Methods The porcine aortic valve leaflets were acellularized by using 1% Triton-X 100,0.01% trypsin-0.02% EDTA,DNase I,RNase I.Biomechanical characteristics of fresh valves and acellularized valves were tested.Human MSCs were isolated,cultured and expanded in vitro,frequently seeded onto the acellularized scaffolds.Their growth was observed.Results The acellularization procedure resulted in complete removal of the cells in valve leaflets while there was no significant difference in destroying stress (g/mm~2) and destroying stress ratio (%) between them (642± 125 vs 636±130, 54±12 vs 57±13, P 0.05).The matrix could be successfully seeded with expanded human MSCs in vitro,which formed a continuous monolayer on the surface.Conculsion Acellularized porcine aortic valve can be applied as a scaffold to creat tissue engineering heart valve.Generation of functional tissue engineering heart valve from human MSCs was feasible.