Xenogeneic small intestine submucosa surface modification during processing for tissue engineering

Abstract

Tissue engineering is an interdisciplinary field of science that uses the principles of health sciences and engineering to develop the biomaterials that can mimic the structure of an organ, with enabling growth factors, control over cell growth to generate tissues for restoration, maintenance or improving the function of the affected organ. Tissue engineering has evolved over time through the development of biopolymer scaffolds with the capacity to stimulate in vitro and in vivo cell growth. Having control over the scaffolds surface, one can improve the cell vitality and proliferation on them. Small intestinal submucosa has been shown to be a promising biological scaffold due to its biocompatibility, low immunogenicity, high biological activity, and biodegradability; its structure is mainly based on collagen derived from the mucosal layer of porcine small intestine. By removing the epithelial layer and decellularization of small intestine submucosa, an acellular matrix is obtained, which possess good regenerative activity. This article discusses methods for modification of the intestine submucosa surface to optimize and improve the biocompatible performance of the materials to adapt to tissue defects with purpose of their regeneration.