Decellularised and Chemically Crosslinked Human Umbilical Vein as a Small Caliber Conduit: Scaffold for Vascular Tissue Engineering

The human umbilical vein (HUV)  was subjected to a tissue processing methodology consisting of a single step cell extraction protocol followed by chemical crosslinking. The decellularised HUV (dHUV) was assessed for acellularity by hematoxylin and eosin staining, scanning electron microscopy and DNA content analysis,  Van Geisons staining for collagen and biochemical quantification of the extracellular matrix components. The dHUVs were treated with ethyldimethylaminopropylcarbodiimide (EC), dimethylsuberimidate (DS) and glutaraldehyde (GA) either alone or in combination to stabilize the glycosaminoglycans and crosslink the proteins. Their shrinkage temperatures, biomechanical properties and resistances to in vitro enzyme degradation were determined and compared with native HUV (nHUV). The results indicated that decellularization with 0.25% sodium dodecyl sulphate was effective in accomplishing complete removal of cells from the HUV without affecting the ECM composition. Crosslinking with  single or two chemical agents improved the  biomechanical properties and in vitro resistances to proteolytic degradation of the acellular HUV. The dHUV crosslinked with two crosslinkers i.e., both  EC and GA has potential  to serve as a small diameter conduit-scaffold for   in  situ  or  in vitro  vascular tissue engineering.