Desenvolvimento e validação de equipamento de decelularização de orgão inteiro pelo método de perfusão

Abstract

A critical difficulty of tissue engineering is the creation of scaffolds that can be used for the development of complex three-dimensional tissues or even whole organs. One solution would be to use the extracellular matrix from own organ to be transplanted performing its decellularization. In this process, the withdrawal and lysis of the cellular materials occurs creating a bioartificial scaffold. This study described the method to develop an equipment capable of transporting through the organ, by perfusion, the decellularization fluid and allowing creation of in vitro acellular scaffold while maintaining the three-dimensional architecture of the organ. It was designed to meet several existing decellularization protocols and may modify in a controlled manner the flow and perfusion pressure, the temperature of each procedure and cannulation technique of the organ. The device was tested with chicken hearts, and was efficient in performing the decellularization protocol using the perfusion method. This study also showed all the evolution of the design and development of this equipment, the improvements and results. In order to evaluate the quality of the resulting tissue, decellularized hearts were assessed according to mechanical stability, and microscopic and macroscopic analysis. Ultimately, it was developed an equipment capable of accomplishing decellularization of different organs, using different protocols found in the literature. Further amendments can be made to improve efficiency to accomplish the decellularization of diverse organs. It is expected that the equipment can be helpful in the study of characterization and improvement of the cells removal process, apart from allowing future adaptations to the process of recellularization and use in different organs.