Purpose: Enhancing the recellularization of a decellularized heart valve in situ may lead to an improved or ideal heart valve replacement. A promising approach is leveraging the immune response for inflammation-mediated recellularization. However, this mechanism has not been previously demonstrated in vitro.
Methods: This study investigated loading the chemokine MCP-1 into decellularized porcine heart valve tissue and measured the migration of human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) toward the chemokine loaded valve tissue.
Results: The results of this study demonstrate that MCP-1-loaded tissues increase PBMC migration compared to non-loaded tissues. Additionally, we demonstrate MCP-1-loaded tissues that have recruited PBMCs lead to increased migration of MSCs compared to decellularized tissue alone.
Conclusion: The results of this study provide evidence for the inflammation-mediated recellularization mechanism. Furthermore, the results support the use of such an approach for enhancing the recellularization of a decellularized heart valve.
Keywords: Monocyte chemoattractant protein; Recellularization; Tissue engineering.