Protein microcapsules integrated hierarchical scaffolds for local treatment of acute myocardial infarction model

Abstract As a severe cardiovascular disease, acute myocardial infarction (AMI) has been attaching increasing attention and research for its high morbidity and mortality. In this paper, the novel protein microcapsules integrated hierarchical scaffold is designed for treating AMI model by using microfluidic templates. Based on advanced microfluidic electrospray technique, core-shell microspheres with controllable size are fabricated to build a double barrier for improving the stability of encapsulated drug. These microspheres are further combined with an electrospun polymer membrane to construct the desired hierarchical structure. Based on these designs, the microcapsules can realize long-term drug release while the polymer membrane scaffold exhibits anti-adhesive effect in vitro. By decreasing the level of Angiotensin Ⅱ and inhibiting the Renin-Angiotensin System (RAS) pathway, ACE2 can increase the concentration of Ang (1–7) and enhance its protective function. To evaluate the therapeutic effect, ACE2-encapsulted hierarchical scaffold is applied to AMI mice model, which achieves regional sustainable release and improves the severity of ischemic lesion, with an additional utility of preventing post-operative adhesion. Compared with injecting intramyocardially, implanting hierarchical scaffold avoids excess injury and shows more obvious therapeutic efficacy. These properties suggest that our hierarchical cardiac scaffolds provide a potential drug administration approach for local treatment of AMI.