Figure 6
From: Evaluation of a decellularized bronchial patch transplant in a porcine model
Ultimate tensile strength of both decellularized bronchus and control patches decreased with increasing implantation time through one month, followed by a recovery to near baseline levels after 2 months (A). The Young’s modulus decreased for both patch types and did not recover to baseline levels with additional transplantation time (C). The strain at break for both patches was similar to their respective controls after 7 days, and increased about four-fold after 1 month, indicating some degree of both control and decellularized bronchus patch degradation (B). Strain at break recovered to near baseline levels for both patch types after 2 months (B). Observed trends in mechanical data were not significant. Additional replicates are required to corroborate observed trends in mechanical measures. SEM imaging revealed similar structural integrity of cartilaginous tissue in both the control patch (E2,E3) and the decellularized bronchus patch (D2,D3) after 7 days and 1 month post transplantation compared to control (D1,E1). After 2 months, the fiber network in the cartilage of both patches appeared frayed with increased inter-fiber spacing after 2 months (D4 and E4). The lumen of both patches was fully re-epithelialized with ciliated cells after 1 month (F3 and G3) and remained intact after 2 months (F4 and G4).
