Functional Analysis of the Tissue‐Engineered Stomach Wall

Abstract

We have established a method for in situ tissue engineering of the stomach in a canine model using an acellular collagen scaffold graft. The current study was conducted to evaluate the functional aspects of the tissue-engineered stomach wall. The anterior wall of the stomach in beagle dogs was replaced with a collagen sponge scaffold measuring 4 x 4 cm. At 16 weeks after implantation, the animals were sacrificed and the stomach specimens were evaluated immunohistochemically and physiologically. Regeneration of the proton pump and thin muscle layer, which are essential for mechanical and chemical digestion by the stomach, was observed in the tissue-engineered gastric tissue. However, acetylcholine-induced contraction was not observed in the tissue-engineered stomach wall. Although there is still room for improvement, the tissue-engineered stomach wall had a highly organized structure, and it is anticipated that this approach could eventually become an alternative for stomach reconstruction after gastrectomy.

Cell and organ bioengineering technology as applied to gastrointestinal diseases

“…Resections of the gastric fundus, corpus or antrum for benign or malignant diseases may result in profound loss of neuromuscular function and gastroparesis. Hori et al seeded collagen sponge scaffolds with smooth muscle cells and used these tissues successfully to repair defects in the gastric wall 129. Speer et al tissue-engineered spheres with gastric glands and muscularis from mouse glandular stomach cells 130.…”

Tissue Engineering Functional Gastrointestinal Regions: The Importance of Stem and Progenitor Cells

“…A scaffold consisting of a porcine collagen matrix on polyglycolic acid patched a gastric defect in dogs together with a layer of protecting silicone. Although parietal cell function appeared to be present, the muscular contraction of the wall was absent (Hori et al 2001(Hori et al , 2002. Mucosal regeneration over a three-layer biodegradable sheet repaired a canine gastric defect; however, no muscular layer spanned the defect that subsequently contracted 60% -80% (Araki et al 2009).…”

Whole-Organ Tissue Engineering: No Longer Just a Dream

“…These were seeded and successfully replaced the small bowel in rodent, swine, and canine model recipients [47][48][49]. In addition to small bowel, the esophagus, stomach, large bowel, and anal sphincters have also been engineered utilizing similar strategies [13,37,[50][51][52][53][54][55].…”