Development of decellularisation system for porcine esophagus

Abstract

The esophagus has been considered to be surgically challenging to be repaired or replaced. One of the most common esophageal reconstructive methods involves the surgical removal of the diseased section of the esophagus and reconnecting to the stomach. However, such surgical procedures would cause complications to arise. Tissue engineering has therefore provided a potential solution for esophageal reconstruction. Decellularized tissues and organs have been used as extracellular matrix for use in regenerative medicine.

Decellularisation by mechanical agitation such as the use of magnetic stir plate has often been used in studies, but perfusion decellularisation is less common. A low-cost functional device capable of carrying out perfusion decellularisation was hence developed. The prototype comprised a tissue chamber, chemical storage drum and a filtration chamber. The device was driven by a peristaltic pump to ensure a continuous fluid flow through the system.

Esophageal tissue samples were subjected to 3 chemical treatments; EDTA, SDS and a mixture of Fe/Asc according to decellularisation protocol established earlier in the Tissue Engineering Lab, NTU. Qualitative and quantitative results were obtained to evaluate the effectiveness of perfusion decellularisation in the removal of cellular materials. Preliminary results had revealed that the device developed was effective in the removal of cellular materials and had the potential to shorten the decellularisation duration.