Resumen:

The increasing prevalence of cardiovascular diseases on the world population urge the development of efficient new therapies for the reestablishment of the cardiac function. The heart has a very limited regenerative ability, and so lost cardiomyocytes cannot be replaced, thus causing permanent damage. Recent advances in cell metabolism have attracted increasing attention in regenerative medicine due to its ability to influence cell behavior and regulate cell function. In this study, we evaluated the effect of exogenous lactate on in vitro mouse and human cardiomyocytes, thus mimicking the lactate-rich environment of the fetal heart. We also studied the effect of this metabolite on cardiac fibroblasts and endothelial cells, the main heart cell types involved in cardiac tissue repair and remodeling, as well as the use of lactate on 3D cardiac tissue constructs or ex vivo culture of mouse hearts. Finally, we explored the fabrication and use of different lactate-releasing scaffolds considering some of the fundamental aspects of cardiac tissue, such as anisotropy and conductivity. Our results open new possibilities for the potential use of lactate on cardiac tissue engineering, with important implications for advanced biomaterial design to modulate cell behaviour through the metabolic environment.

Biografía:
Jesús se licenció en Biotecnología por la Universidad de Barcelona en 2014 y obtuvo un máster en Nanociencia y Nanotecnología por la misma universidad. Posteriormente realizó su tesis doctoral sobre regeneración del tejido cardíaco en el Instituto de Bioingeniería de Cataluña, con una breve estancia en la Michigan State University. Su trabajo ha sido presentado en numerosos congresos internacionales, incluido el Congreso Mundial TERMIS celebrado en Japón en 2018. Tras completar su doctorado en 2020, ha estado trabajando para una startup de biotecnología en el desarrollo de nuevos fármacos para el tratamiento de enfermedades neurodegenerativas. Jesús se incorporará al Instituto IMDEA Materiales en septiembre de 2022.