Feasibility study of the naturally occurring dialdehyde carboxymethyl cellulose for biological tissue fixation

The aim of this study was to evaluate the crosslinking effect of dialdehyde carboxymethyl cellulose (DCMC) on decellularized porcine aortas. Before implanted, biological tissues must be chemically modified to avoid rapid enzymatic degradation and serious immune response. To overcome limitations like high cytotoxicity and susceptibility to calcification caused by glutaraldehyde (GA), a traditional crosslinking reagent, dialdehyde carboxymethyl cellulose (DCMC) was employed to fix biological tissues. The crosslinking characteristics and cytotoxicity of aortas fixed by DCMC were all investigated. The results indicated that DCMC-fixation significantly increased the mechanical strength and the capacity of enzymatic hydrolytic resistance of tissues. The histological examination showed that the microcosmic structures of tissues were all preserved well after DCMC fixation. In addition, the data obtained from MTT assay confirmed that the cytotoxicity of DCMC-fixed tissues was significantly lower than glutaraldehyde-fixed counterparts. In a word, the present study demonstrated DCMC might be an effective crosslinking reagent for biological tissue fixation with low cytotoxicity.