Characterization of Dermal Fibroblasts as a Cell Source for Pediatric Tissue Engineered Heart Valves

Journal of Cardiovascular Development and Disease

Monica M. Fahrenholtz²  Huiwen Liu²  Debra L. Kearney³  Lalita Wadhwa¹  Charles D. Fraser¹ 

[1] Department of Congenital Heart Surgery, Texas Children’s Hospital, 6621 Fannin Street, Houston, TX 77030, USA; E-Mails:;Department of Bioengineering, Rice University, 6100 Main Street MS-142, Houston, TX 77005, USA; E-Mails:;Department of Pathology, Texas Children’s Hospital, 6621 Fannin Street, Houston, TX 77030, USA; E-Mail:

关键词: fibroblasts;    pediatric;    valvular interstitial cell;    VIC;    TEHV;    extracellular matrix;    substrate;   

DOI  :  10.3390/jcdd1020146

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

There is continued debate regarding the appropriate cell type to replace valvular interstitial cells (VICs) in tissue engineered heart valves (TEHVs), particularly for pediatric patients. In this work, neonatal human dermal fibroblasts (nhDFFs) were compared to human pediatric VICs (hpVICs), based on their phenotypic and gene expression characteristics when cultured on collagen type I, fibronectin, fibrin, and tissue culture polystyrene (TCP) substrates. Similar confluency was achieved over the culture period on collagen and fibronectin between both cell types, although nhDFFs tended to reach lower confluence on collagen than on any other substrate. Morphologically, hpVICs tended to spread and form multiple extensions, while nhDFFs remained homogenously spindle-shaped on all substrates. PCR results indicated that fibroblasts did not differ significantly from VICs in gene expression when cultured on fibrin, whereas on collagen type I and fibronectin they showed increased α-SMA, xylosyltransferase I, and collagen type I expression (p < 0.05). However, protein expression of these targets, analyzed by immunocytochemistry and Western blotting, was not significantly different between cell types. These results suggest that nhDFFs express similar matrix production and remodeling genes as hpVICs, and the choice of substrate for TEHV construction can affect the growth and expression profile of nhDFFs as compared to native hpVICs.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2014 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.