The arrhythmogenic effect of self-assembling nanopeptide hydrogel scaffolds on neonatal mouse cardiomyocytes

Appropriate mechanical and geographic environment amenable to cardiac cell expansion and functional activity is an important issue in 3D cell culture. We hypothesized that disordered nanopeptide scaffolds can mimic the chaotic spatial disarray related to cardiac fibrosis and have arrhythmogenic effects on cardiomyocytes. Cardiomyocytes in 3D scaffolds showed different cell morphology, distribution of gap junction proteins and had irregular spontaneous contractile activity compared with traditional 2D culture controls. These limitations should be considered during cardiac tissue engineering.177