Retained structural integrity of collagen and elastin within cryopreserved human heart valve tissue as detected by two-photon laser scanning confocal microscopy

Decellularized aortic conduits: could their cryopreservation affect post-implantation outcomes? A morpho-functional study on porcine homografts

“…Schenke-Layland reported that collagen and elastin architecture was specifically disrupted in response to the cryopreservation/thaw cycling [8] and proposed a novel heart valve preservation method which ensures ECM preservation avoiding ice formation and tissue-glass cracking [35]. On the contrary, Gerson et al indicated that conventional cryopreservation of human heart valve allografts does not affect collagen and elastin structural integrity [6]. Narine et al investigated the effects of cryopreservation on the structural and biochemical properties of decellularized porcine aortic valves, which was found to not significantly alter collagen and uronic acid content of aortic cusp matrices.…”

“…However, no significant change in valvular function was echocardiographically detected [32]. The Cryolife use as cryoprotectant solution a Dulbecco's Modified Eagle's Medium (DMEM) containing 10 % v/v fetal bovine serum and 10 % v/v dimethyl sulfoxide [6]. A survey conducted in 24 international heart valve banks show numerous differences on heart valve processing techniques used in term of sterile culture media, cryoprotectant reagent, antibiotic/antimycotic cocktail, controlled rate freezing for cryopreservation, and storage of allografts at ultralow temperatures [33].…”

“…Clinical studies have demonstrated that allograft failure could be at least partly the result of cellular and humoral immune responses to human leukocyte antigens (HLA), which are present in implanted allografts [4]. Although good preservation of the extracellular matrix (ECM) has been reported for cryopreserved allografts [5,6], damage to collagen and/ or elastin was shown to occur during the cryopreservation/ thawing process [7,8] as result of crystal ice formation and/or proteinase release by non-viable cells. These injured tissue elements may exacerbate the calcification process [9], which is primed by hydroxyapatite nucleation on dying valve interstitial cells and their debris in both in vivo [10] and in vitro [11] experimental models.…”

X Ray Diffraction: An Approach to Structural Quality of Biological Preserved Tissues in Tissue Banks

“…(Gerson, 2009), comparing morpho structural collagen mesh from www.intechopen.com fresh and cryopreserved human heart valves by second harmonic generation, sets no changes between both categories. However, it was found extensive damage in collagen structure in porcine frozen leaflets related to fresh control one, using laser-induced auto fluorescence imaging , (Schenke Layland, 2006), and second-harmonic generation.…”

Endogenous Optical Signals Reveal Changes of Elastin and Collagen Organization During Differentiation of Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells

“…[37][38][39][40][41] In contrast, Eln endogenous fluorescence has not been routinely used and the small number of existing studies utilize a variety of excitation and emission imaging parameters, with limited validation of specificity for Eln protein. 37,[42][43][44][45][46][47] Because of the discrepancies among optimal imaging parameters for Eln, it was essential to compare the endogenous Eln signal with immunofluorescence using an anti-Eln antibody with MPLSM. We found that 780 nm excitation and 520 nm emission are the optimal imaging parameters for Eln in terms of maximum intensity associated with structures reminiscent of elastic fibers (Supplementary Fig.…”