Cellular Interactions and Biomechanical Properties of a Unique Vascular-Derived Scaffold for Periodontal Tissue Regeneration

Abstract

These investigations describe the development of a novel ex vivo three-dimensional scaffold derived from the human umbilical vein (HUV), and its potential as a regenerative matrix for tissue regeneration. Unique properties associated with the vascular wall have shown potential to function as a surgical barrier for guided tissue regeneration, particularly with the regeneration of periodontal tissues. HUV was isolated from umbilical cords using a semiautomated machining technology, decellularized using 1% sodium dodecyl sulfate, and then opened longitudinally to form tissue sheets. Uniaxial tensile testing, stress relaxation, and suture retention tests were performed on the acellular matrix to evaluate the HUV's biomechanical properties, followed by an evaluation of cellular interactions by seeding human gingival fibroblasts to assess adhesion, metabolic function, and proliferation on the scaffold. The scaffold's biomechanical properties were shown to display anisotropic behavior, which is attributed to the ex vivo material's composite structure. Detailed results indicated that the ultimate tensile strength of the longitudinal strips was significantly higher than that of the circumferential strips (p < 0.001). The HUV also exhibited significantly higher stress relaxation response in the longitudinal direction than in the circumferential orientation (p < 0.05). The ablumenal and lumenal surfaces of the material were also shown to differentially influence cell proliferation and metabolic activity, with both cellular functions significantly increased on the ablumenal surface (p < 0.05). Human gingival fibroblast migration into the scaffold was also influenced by the organization of extracellular matrix components, where the lumenal surface inhibits cell migration, acting as a barrier, while the ablumenal surface, which is proposed to interface with the wound site, promotes cellular invasion. These results show the HUV bioscaffold to be a promising naturally derived surgical barrier that may function well as a resorbable guided tissue regeneration membrane as well as in other clinical applications.

Preimplantation processing of ex vivo‐derived vascular biomaterials: Effects on peripheral cell adhesion

“…Decellularization of allo‐/xenografts is often performed to abate the immune response generated upon implantation of the scaffold by solubilizing and stripping out antigenic cellular components while preserving the native architecture of the extracellular matrix 12, 13. Decellularized donor tissues have shown great promise in applications both as acellular, implantable biomaterials as well as scaffolding material for cell‐seeded tissue engineered constructs 14–20. However, the chemical21, 22 (e.g.…”

“…This study was undertaken for functional assessment of the HUV, an ex vivo ‐derived vascular allograft, after tissue decellularization through various strategies. The HUV was chosen as a target graft due to its increasingly common use as an implantable allogeneic biomaterial in a plethora of applications 17–19, 25, 28. Here we characterized the effects of an organic solvent, anionic surfactant, nonionic surfactant, and hypertonic salt solution on the interactive properties of the HUV with peripheral blood and vascular endothelial cells.…”

“…12,13 Decellularized donor tissues have shown great promise in applications both as acellular, implantable biomaterials as well as scaffolding material for cell-seeded tissue engineered constructs. [14][15][16][17][18][19][20] However, the chemical 21,22 (e.g. organic solvents, detergents, ionic solutions) and mechanical 14,23 (e.g.…”

“…The HUV was chosen as a target graft due to its increasingly common use as an implantable allogeneic biomaterial in a plethora of applications. [17][18][19]25,28 Here we characterized the effects of an organic solvent, anionic surfactant, nonionic surfactant, and hypertonic salt solution on the interactive properties of the HUV with peripheral blood and vascular endothelial cells. The objective of this investigation was to comparatively assess surface interactions between processed vascular grafts and cells that play critical roles in tissue performance or graft failure.…”

Human Perinatal‐Derived Biomaterials

“…[1] In recent years, both clinical and research applications of these biomaterials have increased in scope to include roles in tissue engineering, regenerative medicine, and cell-based therapies, especially in the field of orthobiologics. [2, 3] Perinatal tissues are an abundant source of extracellular matrix components, discrete biomolecules, and growth factors with potential use in wide ranging surgical procedures. [4] Clinical sucess with current products have driven broader applications and novel materials that span most clinical specialities, see Table A.…”