Extracellular matrix hydrogels from decellularized tissues: Structure and function

Extracellular Matrix Organization, Structure, and Function

Heart valves are thin, complex, layered connective tissues that direct blood flow in one di‐ rection through the heart. There are four valves in the heart, located at the entrance to and exit from the ventricular chambers. The normal function of the heart valves is essential to cardiovascular and cardiopulmonary physiology. The opening and closing of valve leaflets at precise times during the c...

Tunable Hydrogels from Pulmonary Extracellular Matrix for 3D Cell Culture.

Here we present a method for establishing multiple component cell culture hydrogels for in vitro lung cell culture. Beginning with healthy en bloc lung tissue from porcine, rat, or mouse, the tissue is perfused and submerged in subsequent chemical detergents to remove the cellular debris. Histological comparison of the tissue before and after processing confirms removal of over 95% of double st...

Hydrogels derived from central nervous system extracellular matrix.

Biologic scaffolds composed of extracellular matrix (ECM) are commonly used repair devices in preclinical and clinical settings; however the use of these scaffolds for peripheral and central nervous system (CNS) repair has been limited. Biologic scaffolds developed from brain and spinal cord tissue have recently been described, yet the conformation of the harvested ECM limits therapeutic utilit...

Engineering extracellular matrix structure in 3D multiphase tissues.

In native tissues, microscale variations in the extracellular matrix (ECM) structure can drive different cellular behaviors. Although control over ECM structure could prove useful in tissue engineering and in studies of cellular behavior, isotropic 3D matrices poorly replicate variations in local microenvironments. In this paper, we demonstrate a method to engineer local variations in the densi...

Promoting Extracellular Matrix Crosslinking in Synthetic Hydrogels