Exploration of Decellularized Vegetal Scaffolds as New Biomaterials for Tissue Engineering
type: CreativeWork
description: In tissue engineering (TE), biomaterials are critical to guiding cell growth and tissue regeneration. With the shortage of available human donors to fill the growing need, alternative options from both synthetic and natural sources have been explored. However, a gold standard approach has yet to emerge and new sources are sought. Recently, scaffolds resulting from the decellularization of vegetal tissue have been investigated to provide a biocompatible, easy to handle and sustainable alternative to current TE constructs. However, the exploration of these biomaterials is still in the nascent stage and the goal of this research project is to advance their characterization. Specifically, we first investigated a new decellularization method to replace the time-consuming and damaging conventional serial chemical treatment. We thus showed that the use of supercritical carbon dioxide in combination with 2% peracetic acid is more efficient timewise while maintaining the scaffold’s structural, mechanical and biochemical properties and cell-supporting capabilities. Second, we explored the mechanical properties of these scaffolds. We demonstrated that the stiffness of decellularized vegetal tissues matches the range of stiffness of human tissues while their elasticity under cyclic strain behaves as heterogeneously as mammalian tissue. Interestingly, we also showed that cells seeded on the scaffolds can sense these mechanical cues and respond through mechanotransduction pathways such as YAP/TAZ signaling leading to altered cellular proliferation, morphology and metabolism. Third, we extended the portfolio of plant-based scaffolds by investigating their ability to be used as a drug delivery system. Using cannabidiol in an exploratory study, we showed that scaffolds could adsorb 70% of the drug within 24h and release up to 12% within the next 24h. Based on these results, we will evaluate the capacity of scaffolds with different biochemical (polymer composition) and physical (hydr…
abstract: In tissue engineering (TE), biomaterials are critical to guiding cell growth and tissue regeneration. With the shortage of available human donors to fill the growing need, alternative options from both synthetic and natural sources have been explored. However, a gold standard approach has yet to emerge and new sources are sought. Recently, scaffolds resulting from the decellularization of vegetal tissue have been investigated to provide a biocompatible, easy to handle and sustainable alternative to current TE constructs. However, the exploration of these biomaterials is still in the nascent stage and the goal of this research project is to advance their characterization. Specifically, we first investigated a new decellularization method to replace the time-consuming and damaging conventional serial chemical treatment. We thus showed that the use of supercritical carbon dioxide in combination with 2% peracetic acid is more efficient timewise while maintaining the scaffold’s structural, mechanical and biochemical properties and cell-supporting capabilities. Second, we explored the mechanical properties of these scaffolds. We demonstrated that the stiffness of decellularized vegetal tissues matches the range of stiffness of human tissues while their elasticity under cyclic strain behaves as heterogeneously as mammalian tissue. Interestingly, we also showed that cells seeded on the scaffolds can sense these mechanical cues and respond through mechanotransduction pathways such as YAP/TAZ signaling leading to altered cellular proliferation, morphology and metabolism. Third, we extended the portfolio of plant-based scaffolds by investigating their ability to be used as a drug delivery system. Using cannabidiol in an exploratory study, we showed that scaffolds could adsorb 70% of the drug within 24h and release up to 12% within the next 24h. Based on these results, we will evaluate the capacity of scaffolds with different biochemical (polymer composition) and physical (hydr…
author: Harris, Ashlee Frances
language: en
license: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
date published: 2022
date modified: 2026-07-24T00:57:10Z
provider: University of Arizona
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: The University of Arizona.

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: http://hdl.handle.net/10150/668067