Cardiovascular diseases are a leading cause of death worldwide. Current treatments directed at heart repair have several disadvantages, such as a lack of donors for heart transplantation or non-bioactive inert materials for replacing damaged tissue. Because of the natural lack of regeneration of cardiomyocytes, new treatment strategies involve stimulating heart tissue regeneration. The basic three elements of cardiac tissue engineering (cells, growth factors, and scaffolds) are described in this review, with a highlight on the role of artificial scaffolds. Scaffolds for cardiac tissue engineering are tridimensional porous structures that imitate the extracellular heart matrix, with the ability to promote cell adhesion, migration, differentiation, and proliferation. In the heart, there is an important requirement to provide scaffold cellular attachment, but scaffolds also need to permit mechanical contractility and electrical conductivity. For researchers working in cardiac tissue engineering, there is an important need to choose an adequate artificial scaffold biofabrication technique, as well as the ideal biocompatible biodegradable biomaterial for scaffold construction. Finally, there are many suitable options for researchers to obtain scaffolds that promote cell–electrical interactions and tissue repair, reaching the goal of cardiac tissue engineering.

Articular cartilage is a highly organized tissue that provides remarkable load-bearing and low friction properties, allowing for smooth movement of diarthrodial joints; however, due to the avascular, aneural, and non-lymphatic characteristics of cartilage, joint cartilage has self-regeneration and repair limitations. Cartilage tissue engineering is a promising alternative for chondral defect repair. It proposes models that mimic natural tissue structure through the use of cells, scaffolds, and signaling factors to repair, replace, maintain, or improve the specific function of the tissue. In chondral tissue engineering, fibrin is a biocompatible biomaterial suitable for cell growth and differentiation with adequate properties to regenerate damaged cartilage. Additionally, its mechanical, biological, and physical properties can be enhanced by combining it with other materials or biological components. This review addresses the biological, physical, and mechanical properties of fibrin as a biomaterial for cartilage tissue engineering and as an element to enhance the regeneration or repair of chondral lesions.

Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death worldwide. Cardiovascular diseases complication can give rise to myocardial infarction which produces cell death by blockage of blood flow, leading to loss of heart function. Current treatments directed at heart repair have several disadvantages such as the lack of donors for heart transplantation or the use of non-bioactive inert materials for replacement of the damage tissue. New treatment strategies involve stimulation of heart tissue regeneration with the use of bioactive materials like chitosan, in combination with cells and biochemical factors. Chitosan scaffolds have the necessary proprieties of biocompatibility, porosity, and biodegradation, that imitates the heart extracellular matrix. Chitosan scaffolds physical proprieties, such as electrical conductivity and mechanical proprieties, can be improved by different preparation techniques and by the functionalization with other materials.

Articular cartilage lesions are challenging to regenerate, prompting the investigation of novel biomaterial-based therapeutic approaches. Extracellular matrix (ECM)-derived biomaterials are a promising option for this purpose; however, to date, the combination of amniotic membrane (AMM) and articular cartilage (ACM) has not been tested. This study evaluated different concentrations of soluble extracts from the decellularized ECM of amniotic membrane (dAMM) and articular cartilage (dACM), both individually and in combination, to determine their ability to maintain the chondrogenic phenotype in human chondrocytes. After the decellularization process 90–99% of the cellular components were removed, it retains nearly 100% of type 2 collagen and 70% of aggrecan (ACAN) for dACM, and approximately 90% of type IV collagen and 75% of ACAN for dAMM. The biological activity of soluble extracts from dACM and dAMM were evaluated on human chondrocytes. After 72 h, 1.5 mg/mL of dACM and 6 mg/mL of dAMM significantly increased (p < 0.05) the proliferation and expression of SOX9 and ACAN. Also, the combination of both (1.5 mg/mL dACM and 6 mg/mL dAMM) showed synergistic effects, enhancing chondrocyte proliferation, maintaining chondrogenic lineage, and increasing the production of cartilage ECM components, such as COLII (1.5-fold), SOX9 (2-fold), and ACAN (2-fold). These results suggest that the combined use of dACM and dAMM has potential for cartilage regeneration.

PURPOSE: To validate and replicate an automated decentralized CD19 chimeric antigen receptor T (CAR-T) cell manufacturing process from healthy adult volunteers in an academic institution in a middle-income country. METHODS: Healthy volunteers were recruited and underwent leukapheresis with the continuous mononuclear cell (MNC) collection protocol. Clinical-grade CAR-T cell manufacturing was performed in a closed system using a second-generation CD19 vector with 41BB costimulatory domain. Quality control was assessed at different points in the production process with prespecified release criteria including product's aspect, sterility, cell viability, impurity, and quantity. The target dose formulation was 1 × 10 ⁶ /kg viable CAR-T cells per volunteer. RESULTS: Five healthy volunteers were recruited, all donated adequate MNC units, and successfully underwent the manufacturing process. After T-cell culture harvest, the products contained a median CAR-T cell concentration of 16.5 × 10 ⁶ /mL (range, 7.7-22.2 × 10 ⁶ /mL), with a median transduction percentage of 44.7% (range, 39.2%-60.5%) and a median CD3 ⁺ cell viability of 97.7% (range, 90.4%-98.7%). Sterility was maintained throughout the manufacturing process. The quantity of cells harvested per kilogram of body weight was 24.6 MB-CART19.1 cells × 10 ⁶ /kg (range, 9.3-33.1 × 10 ⁶ /mL). The quality was similar in both fresh and cryopreserved units. Dose formulations were 1.1 CAR-T cells × 10 ⁶ /kg (range, 1.0-1.2 CAR-T cells × 10 ⁶ /kg). CONCLUSION: Our study demonstrates an effective methodology with satisfactory and comparable performance to international reports. Point-of-care manufacturing is a feasible alternative to increase access to CAR-T cells in academic centers.