Biodegradation: a novel challenge for biophotonics

Abstract

Decellularized biomaterials can serve as personalized tools for tissue-engineering therapy of various pathologies [1]. However, the integration of these materials in the host body is often compromised by their properties [2]. To analyze their behavior after the implantation, histological and mechanical measurements of the explants are traditionally employed. Currently, novel cutting-edge optical bioimaging techniques are available providing frequently missing information on calcification dynamics, vascularization and hypoxia and other factors-dependent tissue remodeling. In our study, in the murine subcutaneous implantation model we performed an in vivo multi-parametric imaging analysis of decellularized bovine pericardium (DBP). A combination of fluorescence and hypoxia imaging, X-ray computed microtomography and histology techniques allowed us to track biodegradation, calcification, oxygenation and vascularization processes of both intact and epoxy-crosslinked DBP. We revealed that epoxy-crosslinking induces hypoxia and subsequent angiogenesis and calcification, prohibit biodegradation and remodeling of DBP. These effects correlated with the alterations of structural organization and proteolytic stability following crosslinking examined in vitro. Collectively, optical bioimaging techniques provide new insights into the behavior of decellularized biomaterials in the host body after the implantation.

This work was partially supported by the Russian Science Foundation, Project #18-15-00401 (structural/functional characterization).

[1] Biotechnology Journal, 1900334 (2020), DOI: 10.1002/biot.201900334
[2] Xenotransplantation, 26(3), e12506 (2019), DOI: 10.1111/xen.12506


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Speaker

Peter Timashev
Sechenov University
Russia

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