Assessment of the Adhesion to Decellularized Cardiac Patches of Stem Cells Through Single-Cell Force Spectroscopy (SCFS)

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) remain a leading source of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Although heart transplantation is an established treatment for selected patients with end-stage heart failure, the difficulty in obtaining enough donors and the problems associated with compatibility force the search for new strategies to mitigate these effects. Cardiac patches, a combination of therapeutic elements, such as cells and drugs deposited on a biomimetic scaffold, are particularly promising for repairing the long-term cardiac damage from a perspective based on tissue engineering. However, building these patches entails the compliance with extensive and exhaustive conditions and regulations. Key issues identified in the building process of cardiac patches are the cell–scaffold interaction, including the intensity and duration of this interaction. The present study is intended to develop a robust procedure that allows quantifying the adhesion between decellularized matrices and cells through single-cell force spectroscopy (SCFS) measurements. Determining this adhesion force is essential to ensure cell retention and therapeutic action in the damaged area and, therefore, to be able to design an advanced therapy medicinal product. The whole procedure is validated by measuring the adhesion of allogeneic adipose-derived mesenchymal stromal cells to a decellularized porcine myocardium patch.