Tracheal matrices, obtained by a detergent-enzymatic method, support in vitro the adhesion of chondrocytes and tracheal epithelial cells.

Several attempts have been performed to achieve a suitable tracheal replacement for the treatment of different conditions characterized by a lack of sufficient tissue for surgical reconstruction. Actually, tracheal homografts can induce long-term stenosis and their growth potential is not known. Thus, in this work porcine tracheal matrices have been obtained by a detergent-enzymatic method. The treatment decreased the antigenicity of matrices which were able to support the in vitro adhesion of both chondrocytes and tracheal epithelial cells. On the contrary, only few cells were observed in tracheal matrices prepared with formalin, Thimerosal, and acetone, suggesting that the long-term stenosis occurring in vivo is probably because of an insufficient cell ingrowth. In summary, our results indicate that the detergent-enzymatic method allows us to obtain tracheal matrices which can function as a promising support to achieve an in vitro tissue-engineered cell-matrix construct.