Structural and biomechanical characterizations of porcine myocardial extracellular matrix

• Published in: Journal of materials science. Materials in medicine Vol. 23; no. 8; pp. 1835 - 1847
• Main Authors: Wang, Bo, Tedder, Mary E., Perez, Clara E., Wang, Guangjun, de Jongh Curry, Amy L., To, Filip, Elder, Steven H., Williams, Lakiesha N., Simionescu, Dan T., Liao, Jun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Boston Springer US 01.08.2012; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Animals; Antigens; Biological and medical sciences; Biomaterials; Biomechanics; Biomedical engineering; Biomedical Engineering and Bioengineering; Biomedical materials; Cell-Free System - chemistry; Cell-Free System - ultrastructure; Ceramics; Chemistry and Materials Science; Composites; Deoxyribonucleic acid; DNA; Extracellular Matrix - chemistry; Extracellular Matrix - ultrastructure; Glass; Heart attacks; Materials Science; Materials Testing; Medical sciences; Myocardium - chemistry; Myocardium - ultrastructure; Natural Materials; Polymer Sciences; Regenerative Medicine/Tissue Engineering; Shear Strength; Surfaces and Interfaces; Surgery (general aspects). Transplantations, organ and tissue grafts. Graft diseases; Swine; Technology. Biomaterials. Equipments; Tensile Strength; Thin Films; Tissue engineering; Tissue Engineering - methods; Tissue Scaffolds; Collagenase Treatment; Cardiac Tissue Engineering; Shear Plate; Acellular Scaffold; Griffonia Simplicifolia; Biomechanics; Vertebrata; Mammalia; Animal; Myocardium; Extracellular matrix; Circulatory system; Artiodactyla; Ungulata; Biomedical engineering; Pig
• ISSN: 0957-4530; 1573-4838
• DOI: 10.1007/s10856-012-4660-0

Extracellular matrix (ECM) of myocardium plays an important role to maintain a multilayered helical architecture of cardiomyocytes. In this study, we have characterized the structural and biomechanical properties of porcine myocardial ECM. Fresh myocardium were decellularized in a rotating bioreactor using 0.1 % sodium dodecyl sulfate solution. Masson’s trichrome staining and SEM demonstrated the removal of cells and preservation of the interconnected 3D cardiomyocyte lacunae. Movat’s pentachrome staining showed the preservation of cardiac elastin ultrastructure and vascular elastin distribution/alignment. DNA assay result confirmed a 98.59 % reduction in DNA content; the acellular myocardial scaffolds were found completely lack of staining for the porcine α-Gal antigen; and the accelerating enzymatic degradation assessment showed a constant degradation rate. Tensile and shear properties of the acellular myocardial scaffolds were also evaluated. Our observations showed that the acellular myocardial ECM possessed important traits of biodegradable scaffolds, indicating the potentials in cardiac regeneration and whole heart tissue engineering.