Researchers have compared decellularized muscle matrix (DMM) to an autologous muscle graft and found that DMM enhanced muscle function recovery, muscle regeneration, and the formation of new neuromuscular junctions.
The article, “Decellularized Muscle Supports New Muscle Fibers and Improves Function Following Volumetric Injury,” appears in the March 27, 2018 edition of Tissue Engineering Part A.
Co-author Barbara Boyan, Ph.D., dean of the College of Engineering at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), and Georgia Institute of Technology, told OTW, “There are a number of things that make this study special. First, it represents a collaboration between a tissue bank, the Musculoskeletal Transplant Foundation, and scientists at Virginia Commonwealth University. The grafts were designed to the specifications of a surgeon panel, which recommended that the graft be suturable and full length.”
“The decellularization protocol was developed at MTF using methods that are used for preparing human graft materials. This allows us to make more direct comparisons to materials that might be used in human patients.”
“The experiments performed in the study include assessing the best graft preparation methods; development of the in vivo model; assessment of healing via quantitative histology; and clinical assessment of function in vivo. The latter point is critical.”
“Many studies test cell responses to materials in vitro and even test healing in vivo by histology, but this study goes beyond that to assess restoration of muscle function during physiological tests that include weight bearing, gait analysis, and muscle strength.”
“This research was done by a team that included tissue graft specialists (MTF), a biomedical engineer with expertise in muscle biology (M. McClure), a physician with expertise in animal models (D.J. Cohen) and an orthopaedic surgeon (J. Isaacs).”
“The study was motivated by the need to develop methods for restoring muscle mass lost to injury due to IEDs [improvised explosive devices]. The findings have application to injuries following trauma that result in volumetric muscle loss. The decellularized grafts retain the structural elements of native muscle, which has the advantage of providing conduits for re-innervation and for alignment of new muscle fibers. These concepts can also be adapted to defects that do not involve loss of an entire muscle. The results clearly show the importance of using multiple measures of success in the development of any new regenerative medicine therapy.”
