applications of nanotechnology to solve challenges of cardiac tissue engineering

Cardiovascular diseases are the highest cause of mortality in the world. Cardiomyocytes (cardiac muscle cells) have limited proliferation, therefore repair of the damaged tissue will not occurred and necrosis or fibrosis tissue will be replaced. Myocardial mass loss and lack of contractility are precursors to heart failure. Nowadays, medication, surgery and heart transplantation are methods that used for treatment of these diseases. Tissue engineering is an interdisciplinary field that help to treat medical problems such as tissue loss or severe organ failure. Despite all the progress made in this field over the last few years, there is still some limitations such as delivering nutrients to cells, defects in cellular function and immune response to engineered scaffolds. These limitations are greatly affected by nanotechnology.Nanotechnology is the development of new systems that mimic natural tissue complex structure and boost cellular signal, attachment, cell growth and differentiation. nanotechnology in cardiac tissue engineering help to precise control over the engineered constructions and enhance the mechanical and electrical properties of the cardiac patches. Scaffolds with Gold nanoparticles promote massive cardiac sarcomeric actinin expression, significantly higher contraction amplitudes and rates.