Abstract:
Decellularized matrices for tissue engineering seem to be an attractive material for
providing biological vascular grafts for patients with advanced peripheral arterial disease
who require bypass surgery, but do not have suitable autologous small-caliber vessels (˂6
mm diameter). Currently, a variety of decellularization (DC) techniques have been
proposed such as physical, chemical, and/or enzymatic methods; however, identifying an
optimal protocol resulting in preservation of favorable physiochemical properties of the
vascular scaffold is still elusive. The goal of the proposed study was to examine the
capacity of sonication to completely decellularize small-diameter blood vessels when
applied alone, to test the effect of waves’ parameters on the processing quality and matrix
microarchitecture preservation, and to evaluate the possibility to reduce the time required
for cell removal when ultrasound is used in combination with non-ionic detergents.
Contradictory to other DC protocols reported previously, we were not able to record
completely or even partially cell removal in all studied groups. Interestingly, the
combination of conventional chemicals, as Triton X-100, with physical method did not
result in improving the DC efficiency and did not offer tissue permeabilization and easier
chemicals access towards deeper tissue layers. In addition, when high sonication power
was applied, significant destruction of the vessel matrix was determined. In summary, the
use of sonication had no beneficial effect on DC in this study.