Strategies for the chemical and biological functionalization of scaffolds for cardiac tissue engineering: a review

The development of biomaterials for cardiac tissue engineering is challenging, primarily due to the requirement\udof achieving a surface with favorable characteristics that enhances cell attachment and maturation. The\udbiomaterial surface plays a crucial role as it forms the interface between the scaffold (or cardiac patch) and the\udcells. In the field of cardiac tissue engineering, synthetic polymers (polyglycerol sebacate, polyethylene glycol,\udpolyglycolic acid, poly-L-lactide (PLA), polyvinyl alcohol, polyhydrobutyrates, polycaprolactone, polyurethanes\udand poly N-isopropylacrylamide) have proven to exhibit better biodegradable and mechanical properties than\udnatural materials. Despite they show a suitable biocompatible behaviour, most of them have poor cell\udattachment. These synthetic polymers are mostly hydrophobic and lack cell recognition sites, limiting their\udapplication. Therefore, biofunctionalization of these biomaterials to enhance cell attachment and cell material\udinteraction is being heavily investigated. There are numerous approaches for functionalizing a material, which\udcan be classified in mechanical, physical, chemical and biological. In this review recent studies and attempts to\udfunctionalize scaffolds in the context of cardiac tissue engineering, are discussed. Surface, morphological,\udchemical and biological modifications are introduced and development and results of novel promising strategies\udand techniques are discussed