Figure 1.
ECM composition of aortic arch samples.
HE stain, Masson's Trichrome stain and Movat's Pentachrome stain show complete preservation of the ECM after the decellularization procedure of aortic arch specimens. Bars, 50 µm. Masson's Trichrome stain: cytoplasm (red), collagen (blue), nuclei (dark brown). Movat's Pentachrome stain: nuclei (dark purple to black), elastic fibres (purple to black), collagen (yellow), glycosaminoglycans (green), mucin (blue), cytoplasm (pink to brownish-red).
Figure 2.
Transmission electron microscopy.
Transmission electron microscopy demonstrating retained collagen fibrils after decellularization treatment. Bar, 2 µm.
Figure 3.
DNA, collagen and elastin content.
Total DNA content of native aortic arch tissue and decellularized aortic arch allografts (A). Collagen and elastin content of decellularized aortic arch allograft samples compared to that of native aortic arch tissue (B) *:P<0.05 vs. Native aortic arch
Figure 4.
In vitro biomechanical properties.
Circumferential (A) and longitudinal (B) stress-strain curves of prostheses, native and decellularized aortic arches. All data are expressed as means ± SEM.
Table 1.
Basic hemodynamic parameters.
Figure 5.
Contractility, afterload and ventriculoarterial coupling.
End-systolic elastance (Ees, A), arterial elastance (Ea, B) at baseline and after total aortic arch replacement; and relative changes of ventriculoarterial coupling (VAC, C) in the prosthesis and decellularized allograft groups. All values are given as means ± SEM, *:P<0.05 vs. Baseline
Figure 6.
Vascular impedance spectrum after total aortic arch replacement in a representative animal of the prosthesis (A) and decellularized allograft group (B). Input impedance (RIN, C), and characteristic impedance (Z, D) at baseline and after total aortic arch replacement in both groups. All values on panels C and D are given as means ± SEM, *:P<0.05 vs. Baseline, #:P<0.05 vs. Prosthesis