Dynamic mechanical characteristics of intact and structurally modified bovine pericardial tissues

Decellularization of pericardial tissue and its impact on tensile viscoelasticity and glycosaminoglycan content

“…This GAGs dissociation caused the change in the stress relaxation properties of the pericardial tissue, especially after RAS-ATE treatment. The highly hydrated and negatively charged polysaccharides present in collagenous tissues appear to play an important role in modulating physiological biomechanical behavior and in the tissue calcification [36,[39][40]. In this study, the significant role of GAG/PG in viscoelastic behavior of decellularized pericardial tissue was confirmed by stress relaxation analysis.…”

“…It is well known, that the GAG content and type have a significant role in the mechanical performance of tissues such as bovine pericardium [21,36,38] and porcine heart valves [39]. In this study, we observed a reduction in GAG content on bovine pericardial tissue and therefore it was expected that the tensile properties would be affected to different extents depending on the amount of GAG removed.…”

“…Nonetheless, the presence and distribution of other ECM components can be examined by alternative staining or immunohistochemical methods. The GAGs are an important family of highly functionalized, linear, and negatively charged polysaccharides present in animal tissues such as pericardium which are covalently bound to a protein core in macromolecular assemblies known as proteoglycans (PCs) [35][36]. A reduction in native pericardial tissue sulfated GAG content was observed after any decellularization procedure (Fig.…”

“…This proves that the reversible alkaline swelling allows an interfibrillar opening of the tissue and possibly the formation of a collagen fiber network with increased interstitial spaces, porosity and surface area. It has been reported by Mavrilas et al that after GAG selective degradation, the main GAG components in bovine pericardial tissue were chondroitin sulfate and dermatan sulfate [36]. On the other hand, Courtman et al reported that the cell extraction from bovine pericardial tissue with TX100 did not decrease the amount of hydrolyzed sugar residues used as indicator of GAG content [21].…”

Decellularization, Stabilization and Functionalization of Collagenous Tissues Used as Cardiovascular Biomaterials

“…The glycosaminoglycan polymers consist of repeating disaccharide units, usually consisting of a hexosamine and an uronic acid (Yeung et al, 2001). The charged negatively units contribute to the elasticity and hydration of the tissues (Mavrilas et al, 2005), but may attract counter-ions, which could intervene in the processes of calcification of bioprostheses. The repetitive disaccharide unit of glycosaminoglycans mainly presents in native bovine perichardium is shown in figure 2.…”