Comparison of the biomechanical tensile and compressive properties of decellularised and natural porcine meniscus

Abstract

Meniscal repair is widely used as a treatment for meniscus injury. However, where meniscal damage has progressed such that repair is not possible, approaches for partial meniscus replacement are now being developed which have the potential to restore the functional role of the meniscus, in stabilising the knee joint, absorbing and distributing stress during loading, and prevent early degenerative joint disease. One attractive potential solution to the current lack of meniscal replacements is the use of decellularised natural biological scaffolds, derived from xenogeneic tissues, which are produced by treating the native tissue to remove the immunogenic cells. The current study investigated the effect of decellularisation on the biomechanical tensile and compressive (indentation and unconfined) properties of the porcine medial meniscus through an experimental-computational approach. The results showed that decellularised medial porcine meniscus maintained the tensile biomechanical properties of the native meniscus, but had lower tensile initial elastic modulus. In compression, decellularised medial porcine meniscus generally showed lower elastic modulus and higher permeability compared to that of the native meniscus. These changes in the biomechanical properties, which ranged from less than 1% to 40%, may be due to the reduction of glycosaminoglycans (GAG) content during the decellularisation process. The predicted biomechanical properties for the decellularised medial porcine meniscus were within the reported range for the human meniscus, making it an appropriate biological scaffold for consideration as a partial meniscus replacement.

Decellularisation and histological characterisation of porcine peripheral nerves

“…There was a significant increase in the UTS for both the decellularised peroneal and tibial nerves, as well as strain for the tibial nerves ( P  < 0.05) when compared to their native counterparts. These results were found to be similar in other decellularisation studies (Abdelgaied et al, 2015; Stapleton et al, 2008; Williams et al, 2009). As previously discussed, elastin and collagen fibres contribute to the mechanical properties native nerves (Mason and Phillips, 2011; Tassler et al, 1994).…”

“…decellularisation studies (Abdelgaied et al, 2015;Stapleton et al, 2008;Williams et al, 2009). As previously discussed, elastin and collagen fibres contribute to the mechanical properties native nerves (Mason and Phillips, 2011;Tassler et al, 1994).…”

Comparison of High‐Hydrostatic‐Pressure Decellularized Versus Freeze‐Thawed Porcine Menisci

“…However, the HHPdecellularized meniscus did not show changes in compression strength after a single 10% strain or in the residual strain after 50 cycles at 20% strain. Previous reports 14,32 JOURNAL OF ORTHOPAEDIC RESEARCH ® NOVEMBER 2019 have indicated contradictory results for the mechanical properties of decellularized menisci. For example, Stapleton et al 14 decellularized porcine meniscus by freezethawing and incubation in sodium dodecyl sulfate and found no inferiority of the decellularized meniscus compared with the native meniscus.…”

Fast Setting Silk Fibroin Bioink for Bioprinting of Patient‐Specific Memory‐Shape Implants

“…The results obtained in the stress–strain plot (Figure f) and the values of compressive stress for 25%, 50%, and 80% of strain (Figure g) confirm the memory‐shape properties stated before. Depending on test type and conditions, the reported compressive modulus for human meniscus ranged between 0.09 and 0.23 MPa, which is very similar to the range obtained for the 3D bioprinted scaffolds after freeze‐drying (0.15–0.32 MPa) (Table S1, Supporting information). We hypothesize that the scaffolds memory‐shape feature observed can be related to both scaffolds architecture (micro‐ and macro‐porosity) and molecular changes resulting from enzymatic polymerization of tyrosine residues, which promote an increase in crosslinking density and ultimately led to an increase of the scaffolds elasticity.…”