An off-the-shelf artificial cardiac patch improves cardiac repair after myocardial infarction in rats and pigs
Authors: Ke Huang
Valery Scharf
Teng Su
Ke Cheng
Shiqi Hu
Donald O Freytes
Emily W Ozpinar
Junnan Tang
Li Qiao
Kyle Mathews
Hongxia Liang
Deliang Shen
Zhenhua Li
Journal: Science Translational Medicine (2020)
Discipline: BIOLOGY & BIOCHEMISTRY
Keywords: Cell therapy; cardiac repair; cardiac patches; scaffold material; transplanted cells
Affiliations: Department of Molecular Biomedical Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27607, USA., Comparative Medicine Institute, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27607, USA., Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27607, USA., Department of Clinical Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27607, USA., Department of Molecular Biomedical Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27607, USA.  .

Abstract:  Cell therapy has been a promising strategy for cardiac repair after injury or infarction; however, low retention and engraftment of transplanted cells limit potential therapeutic efficacy. Seeding scaffold material with cells to create cardiac patches that are transplanted onto the surface of the heart can overcome these limitations. However, because patches need to be freshly prepared to maintain cell viability, long-term storage is not feasible and limits clinical applicability. Here, we developed an off-the-shelf therapeutic cardiac patch composed of a decellularized porcine myocardial extracellular matrix scaffold and synthetic cardiac stromal cells (synCSCs) generated by encapsulating secreted factors from isolated human cardiac stromal cells. This fully acellular artificial cardiac patch (artCP) maintained its potency after long-term cryopreservation. In a rat model of acute myocardial infarction, transplantation of the artCP supported cardiac recovery by reducing scarring, promoting angiomyogenesis, and boosting cardiac function. The safety and efficacy of the artCP were further confirmed in a porcine model of myocardial infarction. The artCP is a clinically feasible, easy-to-store, and cell-free alternative to myocardial repair using cell-based cardiac patches. 

Retracted: No

PubPeer comments:
 Brought to my attention by another reader. Could the authors comment on why there appears to be image overlap before and after the PBS wash (see blue box). Other readers on social media share my concern. *** ![file] , 
 #1 Unexpected similarities in the synCSC (red channel). ![file] , 
 Dear Actinopolyspora Biskrensis, This is Ke Huang and I am the first author of the paper. Thanks for your interest and your concern on our paper and figure. Indeed, it is the same sample before and after PBS wash. For this type of experiment, it is better to use the same sample (and even keep the same spot) if we would like to show the effects of PBS wash on the sample. Indeed we intentionally looked for the same spot to take the image. In other words, in this kind of experiments, 100% overlap would be the best results for us as we can show we are imaging the same spot! Hope this solves your concern. PS: Since I donu2019t know which social media you are talking about. Please forward my response to the readers who raised questions in your social media network to avoid further confusions. Thank you very much. , 
 #2 Hoya, those are ** expected ** similarities because the authors were imaging the same sample and an adjacent location before and after PBS wash. , 
 Dear Actinopolyspora Biskrensis and Hoya Camphorifolia, This is Ke Huang and I am the first author of the paper. Thanks for your interest and your concern on our paper and figure. Indeed, it is the same sample before and after PBS wash. For this type of experiment, it is better to use the same sample (and even keep the same spot) if we would like to show the effects of PBS wash on the sample. Indeed we intentionally looked for the same spot to take the image. In other words, in this kind of experiments, 100% overlap would be the best results for us as we can show we are imaging the same spot! Hope this solves your concern. Thank you very much. ,