Construction of corpora cavernosa smooth muscle using human umbilical artery smooth muscle cells re-seeded on acellular collagen matrices in vivo / 中华泌尿外科杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the feasibility of constructing tissue engineered corpora cavernosa smooth muscle by seeding human umbilical artery smooth muscle cells (HUASMCs) in acel-lular collagen matrices.Methods Acellular corporal collagen matrices (ACCM) were obtained from the penis of adult rabbits by a cell removal procedure.HUASMCs were isolated from human umbilical cords through explant techniques and cultured in vitro.Subsequently,HUASMCs were seeded to ACCM and cultured in vitro.After that,the seeded ACCMs were implanted subcutaneously in 9 BALB/C athymic mice.Animals were killed 10,20 and 40 days after implantation.The implants were retrieved and morphological examinations were performed to evaluate characteristics of the engineered tissues.Additionally,organ bath studies were performed to address the contractility of the engineered tissues.Results The deeellularization process successfully extracted all cellular components; colla-gen fibers maintained their original porous morphology and structure.ACCM could be reseeded with cultured HUASMCs in vitro,and HUASMCs had the potential of attachment and proliferation on the three-dimensional ACCM scaffolds.Histologic analyses of the explants from all time points demon-strated a progressive regeneration of corpus cavernosum smooth muscle,with structures very similar to those of the native corpus cavernosum,The maximum contraction force induced by phenylephrine and electrical stimulation was (3.64+0.18)g and (2.50+0.21)g.Conclusion HUASMCs can be seeded on 3-dimensional ACCM scaffolds and will develop a tissue similar to that of the native corpus eavernosum smooth muscle.