Novel tissue-engineered vascular patches based on decellularized canine aortas and their recellularization in vitro

Decellularized allo- or xenogeneic vascular grafts have been found to give more promising results than some biodegradable synthetic polymers. However, owing to absence of well-organized cells, especially confluent endothelial cells, their long-term patency is limited. Seeding vessel-originated cells on these grafts may overcome the deficiency. In this study, canine aortas were decellularized and cross-linked. 4′,6-Diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI) and Masson' trichrome staining showed complete removal of cell debris, while structure integrity of extracellular matrix (ECM) was remained. Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) and human umbilical artery smooth muscle cells (HUASMCs) were seeded on these decellularized aorta patches in three manners, ECs alone (EC/O), SMCs alone (SMC/O) and ECs on SMCs layer (EC/SMC). In EC/O and SMC/O, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) examination indicated both cells could form confluent layers on the decellularized patches when seeded at high density, but their morphology and alignment changed with seeding density. In EC/SMC, ECs could grow well on SMCs layer, but their morphology, alignment, and confluence degree were deeply influenced by the density of SMCs beneath.