Decellularized Scaffolds: Concepts, Methodologies, and Applications in Cardiac Tissue Engineering and Whole-Organ Regeneration

Tissue engineering research, which aims to develop tissue/organ substitutes for treating pathological disorders and organ failures, has made many breakthroughs during the past three decades. The fi eld still faces challenges such as identifying and optimizing scaffolds that must be biodegradable, non-immunogenic, and able to provide structural, mechanical, biological supports/cues for cell adhesion, proliferation, and differentiation. Recent accomplishments in tissue decellularization provide acellular tissue-derived scaffolds that retain the nature-designed structure from the whole organ level, to the microstructural scale, down to the nanoscale. The preservation of structurally organized entities such as collagen, elastin, glycosaminoglycans, and fi bronectin enables a natural template that accommodates many tissue