Natural biomaterials are generally known to be highly biocompatible and in addition are sustainable in nature. In this review, we have focused on the use of biomaterials of natural origin for CTE. The ideal biomaterial for cardiac tissue engineering needs to have suitable material properties with the ability to support efficient attachment, growth, and differentiation of the cardiac cells, leading to the formation of functional cardiac tissue. These include adult stem cell populations (mesenchymal stem cells) and pluripotent stem cells (including autologous human induced pluripotent stem cells or allogenic human embryonic stem cells) with the latter undergoing differentiation to form functional cardiac cells. Various cells have thus far been utilized in pre-clinical studies for CTE. Cardiac Tissue Engineering (CTE) aims to address these conditions, the overall goal being the efficient regeneration of diseased cardiac tissue using an ideal combination of biomaterials and cells. CVD include coronary artery disease (CAD), myocardial infarction (MI), arrhythmias, heart failure, heart valve diseases, congenital heart disease, and cardiomyopathy. 6Wellcome-MRC Cambridge Stem Cell Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United KingdomĬardiovascular diseases (CVD) constitute a major fraction of the current major global diseases and lead to about 30% of the deaths, i.e., 17.9 million deaths per year.5Applied Biotechnology Research Group, School of Life Sciences, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Westminster, London, United Kingdom.4Department of Bioengineering, Department of Materials, IBME, Faculty of Engineering, Imperial College London, United Kingdom.
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3Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy, Cambridge Centre for Medical Materials, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom.2Department of Material Science and Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom.1Faculty of Medicine, National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom.Owen 1 †, Pooja Basnett 5, Barbara Lukasiewicz 5, Molly Stevens 4, Serena Best 3, Ruth Cameron 3, Sanjay Sinha 6, Sian E. Gregory 2 †, Natalia Davidenko 3 †, Olivia Hernandez Cruz 1,4 †, Richard J.