Decellularized scaffolds in regenerative medicine

Allogeneic organ transplantation remains the ultimate solution for end-stage organ failure, but is limited by organ shortages and the need for immunosuppression. Decellularized scaffolds, mainly from non-autologous organs, have shown regenerative capabilities in vivo and in vitro and are an emerging treatment approach. Organs are decellularized to remove cellular components to produce acellular extracellular matrix (ECM) or as known as Decellularized scaffolds. These scaffolds, since they lack cellular components and maintain ECMs, are “rejectless” when implanted, able to act as an inductive template for recellularization. Despite the variability in modalities and organs used, these scaffolds have been proved a capacity to promote regeneration. In vitro studies, relying on bioreactors, researchers investigated the effect (role) of these scaffolds on cell proliferation and organ construction.

• 1
  Decellularized liver scaffolds demonstrated an ability to support efficient in vitro recellularization with primary hepatocytes and subsequent perfusion of cells.
• 2
  Murine neonatal cardiac cells and human umbilical cord derived endothelial cells (HUVEC) were seeded into the left ventricle of decellularized porcine cardiac scaffolds resulted in contractive fibers formation in 50% of the injection site.
• 3
  Spinal scaffold, produced from rats, were combined with human umbilical cord blood mesenchymal stem cells, and then implanted into spinal cords in rats. The results showed that nerve cells migrated into the scaffold, accompanied with formation of and new myelinated axons resulting in motor function recovery.