Production of Human Endothelial Cells Free from Soluble Xenogeneic Antigens for Bioartificial Small Diameter Vascular Graft Endothelization

Figure 2

Decellularization of rat aortas and recellularization with hASC-ECs. (a) Perfusion-decellularized rat aortas (a1) presented intact ultrastructure but were devoid of cell nuclei, in contrast to nondecellularized control rat aortas (a2). (b) Decellularization process (b1 to b4) did not compromise laminin content, as compared to nondecellularized control aorta (b5 to b8). (b1) and (b5) correspond to laminin staining (red), (b2) and (b6) correspond to vWF staining (green), (b3) and (b7) show cell nuclei content (blue), and (b4) and (b8) are image overlays. (c) Recellularized rat aortas present continuous endothelium in their inner surface (c2), absent in decellularized controls (c1). Recellularization with hASC-ECs rebuilt the endothelium of decellularized aorta, which maintained laminin content (red, d1) and regained vWF (green, d2) and nuclei (d3) in their endothelium. Image overlay (d4). for each experiment.

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