Effect of Extracellular Matrix Scaffold Generation Method on Function of Small Diameter Venous Valved Conduits
58 Pages Posted: 6 Jan 2020 Publication Status: Accepted
Abstract
Chronic venous disease (CVD) is the most common reported chronic condition in the United States, affecting more than 25 million Americans. Regardless of its high ocurrence, current therapeutic options are far from ideal due to their palliative nature. For best treatment outcomes, challenging cases of CVI are treated by repair or replacement of venous valves. Regrettably, the success of venous valve transplant is dependent on the availability of autologous venous valves and hindered by the possibility of donor site complications and increased patient morbidity. Therefore, the use of alternative tissue sources to provide off-the-shelf venous valve replacements has potential to be extremely beneficial to the field of CVI. This manuscript demonstrates the capability of producing off-the-shelf fully functional venous valved extracellular matrix (ECM) scaffold conduits from bovine saphenous vein (SV), using an antigen removal (AR) method. AR ECM scaffolds maintained native SV structure-function relationships and associated venous valves function. Conversely, SDS decellularization caused significant changes to the collagen and elastin macromolecular structures, resulting in collagen fibril merging, elimination of fibril crimp, amalgaming collagen fibers and fragmentation of the inner elastic lamina. ECM changes induced by SDS decellularization resulted in significant venous valve dysfunction. Venous valved conduits generated using the AR approach have potential to serve as off-the-shelf venous valve replacements for CVI.
Keywords: Extracellular matrix, venous valve conduit, tissue engineering, decellularization, antigen removal, xenogeneic scaffolds
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