Polysaccharide-based strategies for heart tissue engineering

• We report the latest advances in cardiac tissue engineering mediated by polysaccharides.
• Strategies related to direct injection, in situ polymerization and scaffolds are reviewed.
• Presented approaches involve xylan, alginate, pullulan, dextran, chitosan and hyaluronan.

Polysaccharides are abundant biomolecules in nature presenting important roles in a wide variety of living systems processes. Considering the structural and biological functions of polysaccharides, their properties have raised interest for tissue engineering. Herein, we described the latest advances in cardiac tissue engineering mediated by polysaccharides. We reviewed the data already obtained in vitro and in vivo in this field with several types of polysaccharides. Cardiac injection, intramyocardial in situ polymerization strategies, and scaffold-based approaches involving polysaccharides for heart tissue engineering are thus discussed.