Decellularized liver scaffolds promote liver regeneration after partial hepatectomy

Abstract

The resectable liver volume is strictly limited and this reduces the number of patients who may be treated. Recently, “tissue/organ decellularization”, a new approach in bioengineering, has been investigated for its ability to produce a native organ scaffold by removing all the viable cells. Such a scaffold may support the repair of damaged or injured tissue. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the potential contribution of liver scaffolds to hepatic regeneration after hepatectomy. We sutured the partial liver scaffolds onto the surfaces of partially hepatectomized porcine livers and assessed their therapeutic potential by immune histological analysis at various time points. Animals were sacrificed after surgery and the implanted scaffolds were evaluated for the infiltration of various types of cells. Immune histochemical study showed that blood vessel-like structures, covered with CD31 positive endothelial cells and ALB positive cells, were present in all parts of the scaffolds at days 10 and 28. Blood inflow was observed in some of these ductal structures. More interestingly, CK19 and EpCAM positive cells appeared at day 10. These results suggest that the implantation of a decellularized organ scaffold could promote structural reorganization after liver resection.

Applications of Biomaterials in 3D Cell Culture and Contributions of 3D Cell Culture to Drug Development and Basic Biomedical Research

“…Another approach for recellularization is cell inoculation into mass media by allowing cells to recover through the circuit to seed scaffolds, but the efficiency of this method is lower than that of direct injection using veins [ 161 ]. In various studies, researchers investigated the effect of decellularized scaffolds on cell proliferation and construction of organs, including the liver, heart, lung, kidney, and pancreas [ 162 , 163 , 164 , 165 , 166 , 167 ].…”

Biomaterial-based cell delivery strategies to promote liver regeneration

“…Decellularized rat liver scaffolds can also promote hepatic differentiation of murine MSCs by enhancing the expression of hepatocyte-specific genes and proteins [ 65 ]. Alternatively, extracts from acellular liver ECM, or whole fresh liver can be combined with natural polymers such as HA or type I collagen to form a hybrid material [ 185 ]. Skardal et al demonstrated that customized HA hydrogels with liver-specific ECM components may be an efficient method for in vitro expansion of human hepatocytes for cell therapy or drug and toxicology screening purposes [ 186 ].…”

Cell Therapy and Bioengineering in Experimental Liver Regenerative Medicine: In Vivo Injury Models and Grafting Strategies

“…2). The most promising and interesting source of liver scaffolds is native hepatic tissue [87][88][89]. Decellularization of the native livers of lab animals, pigs, and humans has been tested to determine the most suitable and applicable way to generate transplantable bioengineered liver scaffolds [85,[90][91][92].…”

“…The transplantation of recellularized hepatic scaffolds was performed experimentally and preclinically to evaluate biocompatibility and in vivo functionality. Different ways to transplant the recellularized liver constructs were studied to optimize the most effective minimally invasive technique to restore recipient liver function or compensate for the loss of function [61,82,87,103,135].…”