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Updated: Dec 23, 2025
Processing of Human Cardiac Tissue Toward Extracellular Matrix Self-assembling Hydrogel for In Vitro and In Vivo Applications
Published on: December 4, 2017
Decellularization of porcine heart tissue to obtain extracellular matrix based hydrogels
Rabeil Sakina1, Aida Llucià-Valldeperas2, Ana Henriques Lourenço3
1Complex Tissue Regeneration Department, MERLN Institute for Technology-Inspired Regeneration Medicine, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands; Department of Biomedical Engineering and Sciences, School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), Islamabad, Pakistan.
Abstract:
The use of hydrogels derived from the extracellular matrix (ECM) in tissue engineering applications aims to overcome the conundrum of mimicking the complexity of ECM composition in vitro. In this chapter, we describe a method of decellularization and subsequent formation of an ECM-based hydrogel using porcine heart tissue. These decellularized ECM hydrogels could be used to create semi-interpenetrating networks or as bioinks in bioprinting applications to further enhance the bioactivity and increase the biomimicry degree of the biological cardiac constructs.
