A Two-Step Bioreactor for Decellularized Lung Epithelialization.

Bioreactors for the reseeding of decellularized lung scaffolds have evolved with various advancements, including biomimetic mechanical stimulation, constant nutrient flow, multi-output monitoring, and large mammal scaling. Although dynamic bioreactors are not new to the field of lung bioengineering, ideal conditions during cell seeding have not been extensively studied or controlled. To address the lack of cell dispersal in traditional seeding methods, we have designed a two-step bioreactor. The first step is a novel system that rotates a seeded lung every 20 min at different angles in a sequence designed to anchor 20% of cells to a particular location based on the known rate of attachment. The second step involves perfusion-ventilation culture to ensure nutrient dispersion and cellular growth. Compared to statically seeded lungs, rotationally seeded lungs had significantly increased dsDNA content and more uniform cellular distribution after perfusion and ventilation had been administered. The addition of this novel seeding system before traditional culture methods will aid in recellularizing the lung and other geometrically complex organs for tissue engineering.

A novel role for primary cilia in airway remodeling.

Primary cilia (PC) are solitary cellular organelles that play critical roles in development, homeostasis, and disease pathogenesis by modulating key signaling pathways such as Sonic Hedgehog and calcium flux. The antenna-like shape of PC enables them also to facilitate sensing of extracellular and mechanical stimuli into the cell, and a critical role for PC has been described for mesenchymal cells such as chondrocytes. However, nothing is known about the role of PC in airway smooth muscle cells (ASMCs) in the context of airway remodeling. We hypothesized that PC on ASMCs mediate cell contraction and are thus integral in the remodeling process. We found that PC are expressed on ASMCs in asthmatic lungs. Using pharmacological and genetic methods, we demonstrated that PC are necessary for ASMC contraction in a collagen gel three-dimensional model both in the absence of external stimulus and in response to the extracellular component hyaluronan. Mechanistically, we demonstrate that the effect of PC on ASMC contraction is, to a small extent, due to their effect on Sonic Hedgehog signaling and, to a larger extent, due to their effect on calcium influx and membrane depolarization. In conclusion, PC are necessary for the development of airway remodeling by mediating calcium flux and Sonic Hedgehog signaling.

Porcine Lung-Derived Extracellular Matrix Hydrogel Properties Are Dependent on Pepsin Digestion Time.

Hydrogels derived from decellularized lungs are promising materials for tissue engineering in the development of clinical therapies and for modeling the lung extracellular matrix (ECM) in vitro. Characterizing and controlling the resulting physical, biochemical, mechanical, and biologic properties of decellularized ECM (dECM) after enzymatic solubilization and gelation are thus of key interest. As the role of enzymatic pepsin digestion in effecting these properties has been understudied, we investigated the digestion time-dependency on key parameters of the resulting ECM hydrogel. Using resolubilized, homogenized decellularized pig lung dECM as a model system, significant time-dependent changes in protein concentration, turbidity, and gelation potential were found to occur between the 4 and 24 h digestion time points, and plateauing with longer digestion times. These results correlated with qualitative scanning electron microscopy images and quantitative analysis of hydrogel interconnectivity and average fiber diameter. Interestingly, the time-dependent changes in the storage modulus tracked with the hydrogel interconnectivity results, while the Young's modulus values were more closely related to average fiber size at each time point. The structural and biochemical alterations correlated with significant changes in metabolic activity of several representative lung cells seeded onto the hydrogels with progressive decreases in cell viability and alterations in morphology observed in cells cultured on hydrogels produced with dECM digested for >12 and up to 72 h of digestion. These studies demonstrate that 12 h pepsin digest of pig lung dECM provides an optimal balance between desirable physical ECM hydrogel properties and effects on lung cell behaviors.

Laminin-driven Epac/Rap1 regulation of epithelial barriers on decellularized matrix.

Decellularized tissues offer a unique tool for developing regenerative biomaterials or in vitro platforms for the study of cell-extracellular matrix (ECM) interactions. One main challenge associated with decellularized lung tissue is that ECM components can be stripped away or altered by the detergents used to remove cellular debris. Without characterizing the composition of lung decellularized ECM (dECM) and the cellular response caused by the altered composition, it is difficult to utilize dECM for regeneration and specifically, engineering the complexities of the alveolar-capillary barrier. This study takes steps towards uncovering if dECM must be enhanced with lost ECM proteins to achieve proper epithelial barrier formation. To achieve this, the epithelial barrier function was assessed on dECM coatings with and without the systematic addition of several key basement membrane proteins. After comparing barrier function on collagen I, fibronectin, laminin, and dECM in varying combinations as an in vitro coating, the alveolar epithelium exhibited superior barrier function when dECM was supplemented with laminin as evidenced by trans-epithelial electrical resistance (TEER) and permeability assays. Increased barrier resistance with laminin addition was associated with upregulation of Claudin-18, E-cadherin, and junction adhesion molecule (JAM)-A, and stabilization of zonula occludens (ZO)-1 at junction complexes. The Epac/Rap1 pathway was observed to play a role in the ECM-mediated barrier function determined by protein expression and Epac inhibition. These findings revealed potential ECM coatings and molecular therapeutic targets for improved regeneration with decellularized scaffolds. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: Efforts to produce a transplantable organ-scale biomaterial for lung regeneration has not been entirely successful to date, due to incomplete cell-cell junction formation, ultimately leading to severe edema in vivo. To fully understand the process of alveolar junction formation on ECM-derived biomaterials, this research has characterized and tailored decellularized ECM (dECM) to mitigate reductions in barrier strength or cell attachment caused by abnormal ECM compositions or detergent damage to dECM. These results indicate that laminin-driven Epac signaling plays a vital role in the stabilization of the alveolar barrier. Addition of laminin or Epac agonists during alveolar regeneration can reduce epithelial permeability within bioengineered lungs.

Tunable Hydrogels from Pulmonary Extracellular Matrix for 3D Cell Culture.

Here we present a method for establishing multiple component cell culture hydrogels for in vitro lung cell culture. Beginning with healthy en bloc lung tissue from porcine, rat, or mouse, the tissue is perfused and submerged in subsequent chemical detergents to remove the cellular debris. Histological comparison of the tissue before and after processing confirms removal of over 95% of double stranded DNA and alpha galactosidase staining suggests the majority of cellular debris is removed. After decellularization, the tissue is lyophilized and then cryomilled into a powder. The matrix powder is digested for 48 hr in an acidic pepsin digestion solution and then neutralized to form the pregel solution. Gelation of the pregel solution can be induced by incubation at 37 °C and can be used immediately following neutralization or stored at 4 °C for up to two weeks. Coatings can be formed using the pregel solution on a non-treated plate for cell attachment. Cells can be suspended in the pregel prior to self-assembly to achieve a 3D culture, plated on the surface of a formed gel from which the cells can migrate through the scaffold, or plated on the coatings. Alterations to the strategy presented can impact gelation temperature, strength, or protein fragment sizes. Beyond hydrogel formation, the hydrogel stiffness may be increased using genipin.

Electrospun Decellularized Lung Matrix Scaffold for Airway Smooth Muscle Culture.

Chronic respiratory disease affects many people worldwide with little known about the intricate mechanisms driving the pathology, making it difficult to develop novel therapies. Improving the understanding of airway smooth muscle and extracellular matrix (ECM) interactions is key to developing treatments for this leading cause of death. With currently no relevant or controllable in vivo or in vitro models to investigate cell-ECM interactions in the small airways, the development of a biomimetic in vitro model with cell attachment, signaling, and organization is needed. The goal of this study was to create a biologically and structurally relevant in vitro model of small airway smooth muscle. In order to achieve this goal, a scaffold was engineered from synthetic poly-l-lactic acid (PLLA) and decellularized pig lung ECM (PLECM). PLECM scaffolds have improved physical characteristics over synthetic scaffolds, by exhibiting a significant decrease in the elastic modulus and an increase in hydrophilicity. Histological staining and SDS-PAGE showed that essential proteins or protein fragments found in natural ECM were present after processing. Human bronchial smooth muscle cells (HBSMCs) seeded onto PLECM 3D scaffolds formed confluent layers and maintained a contractile phenotype, as demonstrated by the organized arrangement of actin filaments within the cell and expected contractile protein expression of calponin 1. HBSMCs cultured on electrospun PLECM scaffold also increased alpha-1 type 1 collagen compared to those cultured on PLLA scaffolds. In summary, this research demonstrates that a PLLA/PLECM composite electrospun mat is a promising tool to produce an in vitro model of the airway with the potential for a better understanding of bronchiole smooth muscle behavior in diseased or normal states.