Abstract:
Introduction. Decellularized biomaterials derived from the biological tissues are ideal for tissue
engineering applications because they mimic the biochemical composition of the native tissue.
The physical and structural properties of the scaffold are important in the fields of tissue
engineering and regenerative medicine [1-11].
Material and methods. Study material was 20 decellularized dermal grafts. 10 samples were
obtained from piglets slaughtered in the slaughterhouse. Other tissues (n=10) were received from
the donor from the Human Tissue and Cell Bank of the Republic of Moldova following the
recommendations of the university ethics committee. Extracellular matrices were obtained by
decellularization with 0.5% sodium dodecyl sulfate/0.1% EDTA solution [12, 13, 15]. The
evaluation of the structural characteristics was carried out by the histological examination with
hematoxylin and eosin, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and the quantification of the
amount of deoxyribonucleic acids (DNA). Assessment of the physical characteristics included
analysis of extracellular matrix (ECM) volume porosity [13-16], density [17-20], and swelling
rate [16, 17].
Results. By histological examination we revealed fewer cells in decellularized tissues compared
to non-decellularized ones. More than 80.5% of nucleic acids were removed from porcine matrix
and 82.5% of genetic material - from decellularized human dermal structures. A mean
correlation and inverse dependence of -0.43 was shown between porosity and swelling rate of
decellularized dermis.
Conclusions. The decellularization process significantly (P<0.05) removed the cellular components while preserving the connective three-dimensional structure of the dermal matrices clearly
shown by quantification of the amount of DNA and microscopic examination of the structures.
