C7: Preclinical assessment of antigen-reduced decellularized porcine heart valves
This project aims for the generation of xenogeneic (porcine) heart valve matrices which are free of immunogenic epitopes and which can be used for endogenous tissue regeneration and tissue engineering and ultimately for clinical application. Pulmonary heart valves of genetically modified pigs decellularized and enzymatically treated according the two protocols identified as the most promising during the first funding period will be subjected to analysis in vivo by orthotopic implantation into hamadyras baboons (function, rejection, remodeling), and in vitro in respect to humoral aspects (complement activation, coagulation) and cellular responses (leukocytes adhesion/recognition, tissue specific cell-repopulation capacity).
Schematic drawing oft he projects program. Heart valves from GGTA1-KO pigs will be decellularized and orthotopically implanted into baboons.
