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Ann Thorac Surg 2007;83:1641-1650
© 2007 The Society of Thoracic Surgeons

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Original Articles: Cardiovascular

Optimized Preservation of Extracellular Matrix in Cardiac Tissues: Implications for Long-Term Graft Durability

^a Cardiovascular Research Laboratory, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, California
^b Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmacy, USC, Los Angeles, California
^c Regenerative Bioengineering and Repair Laboratory, UCLA, Los Angeles, California
^d Department of Medical Physics and Biophysics, Humboldt University, University Hospital Charité, Berlin, Germany
^e Cell & Tissue Systems, Inc., Charleston, South Carolina
^f The Georgia Tech/Emory Center for The Engineering of Living Tissues, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia

Accepted for publication December 4, 2006.

^_* Address correspondence to Dr MacLellan, University of California Los Angeles, Cardiovascular Research Laboratory, 675 Charles E. Young Drive South, MRL 3-645, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1760 (Email: rmaclellan{at}mednet.ucla.edu).

Background: Cryopreservation of human tissues, particularly heart valves, is widespread in clinical practice although the effects of this process on underlying tissue structures and its potential impact on valve durability have been poorly studied. Multiphoton imaging and second-harmonic generation (SHG) microscopy permit high-resolution, noninvasive analysis of living tissues at a subcellular level. In the present study we used these novel imaging modalities to compare the effects of vitreous and frozen cryopreservation on the extracellular matrix (ECM) of cardiac tissues.

Methods: Conventional histology, electron microscopy, and multiphoton imaging to obtain autofluorescence and SHG images were performed on cardiac tissues to characterize the ECM in fresh, vitrified, and frozen cryopreserved tissues.

Results: Autofluorescence and particularly SHG images revealed that conventional frozen cryopreservation of cardiac valves, when compared with fresh or vitrified tissues, leads to the loss of normal ECM structures in valve leaflets. Similar results were found in all other cardiac tissues suggesting that structural deterioration of the ECM is a common consequence of frozen cryopreservation.

Conclusions: Our results demonstrate that conventional cryopreservation, when compared with fresh or vitrified tissues, causes more destruction of normal ECM structure, which might contribute to eventual graft dysfunction. Whether vitrification preservation will translate into greater durability or less valve failure will need to be determined.

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				K. Schenke-Layland, U. A. Stock, A. Nsair, J. Xie, E. Angelis, C. G. Fonseca, R. Larbig, A. Mahajan, K. Shivkumar, M. C. Fishbein, et al. Cardiomyopathy is associated with structural remodelling of heart valve extracellular matrix Eur. Heart J., June 27, 2009; (2009) ehp267v1. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]