Morphological evaluation of the amniotic membrane decellularization

Background: Biological materials derived from decellularized tissues could be a good basis for progress in regenerative medicine while maintaining the main components of the extracellular matrix. A promising scaffold for tissue-engineered is the human amniotic membrane. It is one of the oldest biomaterials used for scaffolds. Material and methods: 3 placentas were obtained through Human Tissue Bank. Under sterile condition human amniotic membrane was collected. The human amniotic membrane was treated with 0.5% of sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS), 1% Triton for 24 and 5 hours. Amniotic membrane decellularization was also carried out in combination with ultrasound bath for 20 minutes 3 times. For morphological and structure evaluation of human amniotic membrane the scanning electron microscopy of native amniotic membrane and histology of decellularized and native amniotic membrane were performed. Results: The human amniotic membrane decellularization process with 0.5% SDS solution and 1% Triton solution showed that decellularization for 24 hours is too aggressive for human amniotic membrane structure. The decellularization for 5h with 1% Triton solution was incomplete. Conclusions: The method of decellularization with 0.5% SDS solution is more suitable for amniotic membrane decellularization and can be performed in only 5 hours. The use of ultrasound bath did not have a significant effect on the obtained results.