Decellularized biological matrices: an interesting approach for cardiovascular tissue repair and regeneration

Abstract

The repair and replacement of blood vessels is one of the most challenging topics for biomedical research. Autologous vessels are preferred as graft materials, but they still have many issues to overcome: for instance, they need multiple surgical procedures and often patients may not have healthy and surgically valuable arteries useful as an autograft. A tissue-engineering approach is widely desirable to generate biological vascular prostheses. Recently, decellularization of native tissue has gained significant attention in the biomedical research field. This method is used to obtain biological scaffolds that are expected to maintain the complex three-dimensional structure of the extracellular matrix, preserving the biomechanical properties of the native tissues. The decellularizing methods and the biomechanical characteristics of these products are presented in this review. Decellularization of biological matrices induces the loss of major histocompatibility complex (MHC), which is expected to promote an immunological response by the host. All the studies showed that decellularized biomaterials possess adequate properties for xenografting. Concerning their mechanical properties, several studies have demonstrated that, although chemical decellularization methods do not affect the scaffolds' mechanical properties, these materials can be modified through different treatments in order to provide the desired mechanical characteristics, depending on the specific application. A short overview of legislative issues concerning the use of decellularized substitutes and future perspectives in surgical applications is also presented. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Acellular Gelatinous Material of Human Umbilical Cord Enhances Wound Healing: A Candidate Remedy for Deficient Wound Healing

“…Emerging reports are showing the promising role of decellularized biological matrices for tissue repair (Boccafoschi et al, 2015). Our group has reported that WJ-MSCs conditioned-medium has positive effects on wound healing in human in vivo in full-thickness skin excisional wounds on a mouse model through paracrine signaling via several mechanisms: upregulation of wound healing factors' gene expression, such as TGF-ß2, HIF-1α and PAI-1 in addition to enhancing human skin fibroblasts proliferation and migration (Arno et al, 2014).…”

“…Our group has reported that WJ-MSCs conditioned-medium has positive effects on wound healing in human in vivo in full-thickness skin excisional wounds on a mouse model through paracrine signaling via several mechanisms: upregulation of wound healing factors' gene expression, such as TGF-ß2, HIF-1α and PAI-1 in addition to enhancing human skin fibroblasts proliferation and migration (Arno et al, 2014). It is known that the niche or microenvironment of stem cells is crucial in supporting the MSCs and that there is significant cross talk and signaling that occurs between the cells and the environment (Boccafoschi et al, 2015; Khodadi et al, 2016). Moreover, there is the secretome of stem cells which is within the Wharton's jelly.…”

Renal Tubular‐ and Vascular Basement Membranes and their Mimicry in Engineering Vascularized Kidney Tubules

“…Whether this is inherent to the use of synthetic ECM components needs to be thoroughly investigated. In addition, it seems that although most of the structure and composition of the scaffolds remain intact after decellularization, depending on the method of decellularization, the compliance, Young's Modulus, and stress–strain curves can decrease or increase, as reviewed by Boccafoschi et al…”

Cell-free vascular grafts: Recent developments and clinical potential

“…Common physical treatments involve sonication, pressure, shear forces, freezing and thawing 73 . Hypotonic and hypertonic solutions have also been found to be effective at mediating the cell lysing process 71 .…”

“…A wide variety of chemical treatments have been reported in the literature ranging from alkaline and acidic solutions to ionic and non-ionic detergents 73 . Each of these detergents has their own unique way of altering the structure and components of the cells as well as the three-dimensional structure of the ECM.…”