The effect of decellularization processes on the immune response and compatibility of tissues

Extracellular matrix (ECM)-based biologic scaffolds are widely employed in therapeutic tissue regeneration applications. The immunologic rejection and donor shortage caused by cellular components in traditional tissue/organ transplantation may be greatly alleviated by these decellularized scaffolds. Decellularization, a crucial step in the production of ECM scaffolds, removes immunogen-containing cell components and significantly reduces the immunogenicity while improving the biocompatibility of the final scaffolds. However, the application of these bio-scaffolds still confronts the major immunologic challenges. Understanding how a scaffold interacts with the host immune system is essential for choosing an appropriate one. Various techniques have been developed for this purpose. The ECM is damaged by all decellularization techniques, including both chemical and physical methods. Nevertheless, the consequences of various techniques vary, making some of these operations better than alternative techniques for preserving ECM structure. The host's immune system reacts in a complicated way to a decellularized scaffold. Numerous immune cells may have an impact on this process, but the properties, preparation, and alteration of the decellularized scaffold can also have a big impact on this response. These elements may operate alone or in combination to cause immune cells to polarize in either a pro-inflammatory or pro-healing manner. In this study, we have thoroughly examined the variables that could affect the immune system's reaction to a decellularized scaffold in this study.