Noah Thompson
English 105
Sarah George
Topic: Organ Tissue Engineering: Decellularization and Recellularization
Summary: Decellularization is a biomedical engineering process that produces organs
that will not be rejected after being transplant. Scientists take a donor organ, remove the
cells, and are left with an extracellular matrix. This extracellular matrix is called a
scaffold because it maintains the shape of the donor organ without any living cells
present. Scientists can introduce the donor recipient’s cells to the scaffold and organ
tissues will begin to grow. This creates a viable transplant organ that the recipient will not
reject since it is their own cells.
In this study researchers at Tehran University of Medical Sciences explored the
efficacy of two methods of decellularization and which method results in a more viable
transplant organ. The scientists prepared rat and sheep liver samples and decellularized
them with sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and Triton + SDS. After recellularizing the
liver scaffolds the researchers found that the livers decellularized with SDS+Triton were
translucent and the SDS treated livers were less lucid. However, according to researchers,
“a mildly distorted architecture without cellularity was discerned in method 2” and
“staining of normal and decellularized scaffold with method 1 and 2 demonstrated a vast
difference in extracellular matrix composition of the two scaffolds, which shows the
superiority of method 1 in extracellular matrix preservation” (Sabetkish et al.). This
study has the potential to lead the way for in situ liver generation, which is the use of the
body’s own regeneration capabilities through the use of the host’s cells.
Citation:
Sabetkish S, Kajbafzadeh A-M, Sabetkish N, Khorramirouz R, Akbarzadeh A, Seyedian
SL, Pasalar P, Orangian S, Beigi RSH, Aryan Z, Akbari H, Tavangar SM. 2015. Wholeorgan tissue engineering: Decellularization and recellularization of three-dimensional
matrix liver scaffolds. J Biomed Mater Res Part A 2015:103A:1498–1508.
Definitions:
Organ Rejection: When a transplant occurs the recipient’s body often rejects the
received organ since it sees it as a foreign object. The body attacks the organ and tries to
kill it. To prevent this recipients have to take anti-rejection medication.
Extracellular Matrix (ECM): ECM is the remainder, or scaffold, of an organ when the
living cells are removed. It is composed of nonliving membranes.
Decellularization: The process of removing living cells from a donor organ by means of
chemicals.
Recellularization: The process of introducing new living cells to an organ scaffold to
regrow organ tissues.
Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate: A liquid compound used to wash and clear donor organs of
living cells. Several variants of the wash are used.