Description:
Reference #: 01258
The University of South Carolina is offering licensing opportunities for using an efficient decellularization method to produce natural tissue scaffolds.
Background:
Decellularized tissues are utilized as scaffolds in numerous tissue engineering applications. These materials are often treated with aqueous detergents, which can require many hours, damage the microstructure, and/or leave behind cytotoxic residue. Supercritical carbon dioxide (CO2) offers faster, gentler treatment of these materials.
Invention Description:
The subject invention is a cleaning solution that is used in the creation of tissue engineering scaffolds from the tissue of other mammals, such as pigs or cows. The cleaning solution, which contains water, ethanol, and carbon dioxide at high pressure, removes the mammalian cells and bacteria faster than simply washing with water. Once the cells are removed, only proteins remain, and the cleansed tissue can be used as a scaffold for tissue engineering applications.
Potential Applications:
This invention will be used to decellularize tissues, creating tissue-engineering scaffolds from the resulting extracellular matrix. It will also simultaneously disinfect the matrix and preserve its hydration and mechanical properties because of the presence of water in the CO2 solution.
Advantages and Benefits:
Using this method, the tissues are decellularized more quickly than conventional methods using detergents and saline solutions; the invention offers time savings of a day or more. The method leaves no residual contaminants or byproducts in the scaffold and allows it to be treated at physiologic temperature. The method does not dehydrate the native tissue, unlike previously-published CO2 treatments. The technology also simultaneously disinfects the matrix because of the presence of supercritical CO2, further reducing both the overall treatment time and the number of processing steps.