Harvesting decellularized liver extracellular matrix from rodents for 3D scaffold fabrication

Abstract

Decellularization is a process to harvest the decellularized extra cellular matrix (dECM) that helps develop 3D scaffolds which mimic the native tissue composition. The decellularized tissues retain the structural and functional properties of the extracellular matrix (ECM) by an efficient decellularization process that retains tissue-specific biochemical and biophysical cues for tissue regeneration. In this study, we report an injection-based decellularization method, without perfusion setup. This study also compares the efficiency of the proposed protocol in the two animal models viz rat and mice. This method harvests rat and mice liver dECM using ethylenediamine tetra acetic acid (EDTA) and sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) within 08 h and 02 h respectively and preserved significant amount of ECM proteins. We reported that the harvested mice decellularized extracellular matrix (mdECM) and rat decellularized extracellular matrix (rdECM) had significant reduction in their DNA content (∼97%) and retained structural architecture resembling their native tissue counterparts. The total protein content retained in mdECM was ∼39% while that retained in rdECM was ∼65%. It was also found that the sGAG (sulphated glycosaminoglycan) content showed a no List of Figures.

GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

Keywords:

• Decellularization
• decellularized extracellular matrix
• 3D scaffolds
• liver tissue engineering

Acknowledgement

The authors would like to thank Manipal Center for Biotherapeutics Research (MCBR), MAHE, Manipal for the provision of research instruments and infrastructure support.

Author contributions

Meghana Kasturi – conception and design, or analysis and interpretation of the data; the drafting of the paper. Kirthanashri S Vasanthan – conception and design, revising it critically for intellectual content, and the final approval of the version to be published.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s)

Data availability statement

The authors confirm that the data supporting the findings of this study are available within the article.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR Adhoc −5/3/8/53/2020 – ITR).