AUTHOR=Belviso Immacolata , Romano Veronica , Sacco Anna Maria , Ricci Giulia , Massai Diana , Cammarota Marcella , Catizone Angiolina , Schiraldi Chiara , Nurzynska Daria , Terzini Mara , Aldieri Alessandra , Serino Gianpaolo , Schonauer Fabrizio , Sirico Felice , D’Andrea Francesco , Montagnani Stefania , Di Meglio Franca , Castaldo Clotilde TITLE=Decellularized Human Dermal Matrix as a Biological Scaffold for Cardiac Repair and Regeneration JOURNAL=Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology VOLUME=8 YEAR=2020 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/bioengineering-and-biotechnology/articles/10.3389/fbioe.2020.00229 DOI=10.3389/fbioe.2020.00229 ISSN=2296-4185 ABSTRACT=
The complex and highly organized environment in which cells reside consists primarily of the extracellular matrix (ECM) that delivers biological signals and physical stimuli to resident cells. In the native myocardium, the ECM contributes to both heart compliance and cardiomyocyte maturation and function. Thus, myocardium regeneration cannot be accomplished if cardiac ECM is not restored. We hypothesize that decellularized human skin might make an easily accessible and viable alternate biological scaffold for cardiac tissue engineering (CTE). To test our hypothesis, we decellularized specimens of both human skin and human myocardium and analyzed and compared their composition by histological methods and quantitative assays. Decellularized dermal matrix was then cut into 600-μm-thick sections and either tested by uniaxial tensile stretching to characterize its mechanical behavior or used as three-dimensional scaffold to assess its capability to support regeneration by resident cardiac progenitor cells (hCPCs)