Rabbit heart bioartificial tissue: perfusion decellularization and characterization

Despite new approaches in the treatment of cardiovascular disease (CVD) such as percutaneous coronary intervention, coronary artery bypass graft, and left ventricular assist devices, which cannot fully compensate for the effectiveness of the original heart, heart transplantation still remains as the most effective solution. A growing body of literature recognizes the importance of developing a whole heart constructed from living tissues to provide an alternative option for patients suffering from diseases of the cardiovascular system. A potential solution that shows a promise is to generate cell-free, i.e., decellularized, scaffolds using native heart tissue to be later cellularized and transplanted. This study reports the decellularization process and efficiency in an effort to create a whole heart scaffold. The hearts harvested from rabbits were perfused and the final bioartificial scaffolds were characterized for the efficiency of decellularization in terms of DNA content, collagen, and glycosaminoglycan. The compressive biomechanical properties of decellularized and native hearts were also determined and compared. Findings revealed that the DNA content of decellularized hearts was significantly reduced while keeping collagen and GAG content unchanged. Biomechanical properties of the hearth became inferior upon removal of the nuclear material. Decellularized hearts have significant importance in treating CVD as they serve as bioartificial hearts, providing a more clinically relevant model for potential human use. Future work will focus on the recellularization of the heart using induced pluripotent or embryonic stem cells to test its functionality.