Antibacterial Activity within Degradation Products of Biological Scaffolds Composed of Extracellular Matrix

Abstract

Biological scaffolds composed of extracellular matrix (ECM) have been shown to be resistant to deliberate bacterial contamination in preclinical in vivo studies. The present study evaluated the degradation products resulting from the acid digestion of ECM scaffolds for antibacterial effects against clinical strains of Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. The ECM scaffolds were derived from porcine urinary bladder (UBM-ECM) and liver (L-ECM). These biological scaffolds were digested with acid at high temperatures, fractionated using ammonium sulfate precipitation, and tested for antibacterial activity in a standardized in vitro assay. Degradation products from both UBM-ECM and L-ECM demonstrated antibacterial activity against both S. aureus and E. coli. Specific ammonium sulfate fractions that showed antimicrobial activity varied for the 2 different ECM scaffold types. The results of this study suggest that several different lowmolecular-weight peptides with antibacterial activity exist within ECM and that these peptides may help explain the resistance to bacterial infection provided by such biological scaffolds.

Antibacterial activity and composition of decellularized goat lung extracellular matrix for its tissue engineering applications

“…Similar type of activity has been demonstrated by the ECM scaffold components derived from small intestinal submucosa (SIS) and urinary bladder sub-mucosa (UBS), which exhibit antibacterial activity against both Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria [76]. The antibacterial activity against E. coli and S. aureus has also been examined for porcine liver tissue and superficial layers of the porcine urinary bladder [77]. Although the exact mechanism of killing bacteria by action of peptides (produced during the degradation of the goat-lung ECM) is poorly understood [78], but it has been reported that either the antibacterial peptides may get directly associated with the bacterial cell membrane leading to lysis of the membrane or they get diffused into the bacterial cell cytoplasm and interferes with their protein synthesis [79].…”

Epimorphic regeneration approach to tissue replacement in adult mammals

“…Because ECM scaffolds consist of various molecules such as collagen and fibronectin, proteoglycans, glycoproteins, growth factors, and cytokines (46), degradation of these ECM scaffolds releases a heterogeneous set of molecules (13,21), each with varying biologic properties in vivo. Subsets of these peptides have been found to have different bioactive properties in vitro (13,17,19,44,47,48). Although a subset of generated peptides is clearly chemotactic for stem cells, the overall contribution of these peptides to stem cell recruitment in vivo is as of yet unknown.…”

“…Although full characterization of these bioactive peptides has not been completed to date, ex vivo enzymatic, chemical, and physical methods (17)(18)(19), and in vivo physiologic methods (20), have generated a heterogeneous population of ECM peptides (13,21) with both chemotactic and mitogenic properties for a variety of stem and progenitor cells.…”

Porous composite prosthetic pylon for integration with skin and bone

“…The extracellular matrix, with its natural three-dimensional structure and composition, provides a scaffold for cell proliferation [30][31][32]. Such biological scaffolds have been shown to resist deliberate bacterial contamination [33][34], which is essential for creation of a barrier against infection in the direct skeletal attachment of a limb prosthesis. Therefore, in our in vitro experiments, we investigated whether collagen and fibrin treatment of a porous implant would affect migration of skin cells inside the structure of the implant.…”