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Alternative Biological Material for Tissue Engineering of the Vagina: Porcine-Derived Acellular Vaginal Matrix

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Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine Aims and scope

Abstract

Background:

Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser (MRKH) syndrome is a severe congenital disorder characterized by vaginal hypoplasia caused by dysplasia of the Müllerian duct. Patients with MRKH syndrome often require nonsurgical or surgical treatment to achieve satisfactory vaginal length and sexual outcomes. The extracellular matrix has been successfully used for vaginal reconstruction.

Methods:

In this study, we developed a new biological material derived from porcine vagina (acellular vaginal matrix, AVM) to reconstruct the vagina in Bama miniature pigs. The histological characteristics and efficacy of acellularization of AVM were evaluated, and AVM was subsequently transplanted into Bama miniature pigs to reconstruct the vaginas.

Results:

Macroscopic analysis showed that the neovaginas functioned well in all Bama miniature pigs with AVM implants. Histological analysis and electrophysiological evidence indicated that morphological and functional recovery was restored in normal vaginal tissues. Scanning electron microscopy showed that the neovaginas had mucosal folds characteristics of normal vagina. No significant differences were observed in the expression of CK14, HSP47, and α-actin between the neovaginas and normal vaginal tissues. However, the expression of estrogen receptor (ER) was significantly lower in the neovaginas than in normal vaginal tissues. In addition, AVM promoted the expression of β-catenin, c-Myc, and cyclin D1. These results suggest that AVM might promotes vaginal regeneration by activating the β-catenin/c-Myc/cyclin D1 pathway.

Conclusion:

This study reveals that porcine-derived AVM has potential application for vaginal regeneration.

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Data availability

Data will be available upon motivated request.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank all members of the Department of Gynecology at the Second Hospital of Hebei Medical University. This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 8167060210) and Improved Innovation Ability of the Hebei Obstetrics and Gynecology Clinical Medicine Research Centre (20577705D).

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Author notes

  1. Yanpeng Tian, Yibin Liu and Yanlai ** West Road, Shijiazhuang, 050000, Hebei, People’s Republic of China

    Yanpeng Tian, Yibin Liu, Yanlai **ao, Zhongkang Li, Mingle Zhang, Wangchao Zhang, Zhiqiang Zhang, Desheng Kong, Li Meng, Yanfang Du, **gkun Zhang & **anghua Huang

  2. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450052, Henan, People’s Republic of China

    Yanpeng Tian

  3. Department of Anesthesiology, The Fourth Hospital of Shijiazhuang, Shijiazhuang, 050000, Hebei, People’s Republic of China

    Liang Chen

  4. Department of Anesthesiology, The Second Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, 050000, Hebei, People’s Republic of China

    Zhen Li & **gui Gao

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  1. Yanpeng Tian
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Contributions

(I) Conception and design: XH, JZ and YT; (II) Administrative support: None; (III) Surgical procedures: YT, YL, YX, ZL, MZ, WZ, ZZ, LM, YD; (IV) Animal anesthesia: LC, ZL and JG; (V)Collection and assembly of data: YL, DK; (VI) Data analysis and interpretation: YX, DK; (VII) Manuscript writing: All authors; (VIII) Final approval of manuscript: All authors.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to **anghua Huang.

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The authors disclose no potential conflicts of interest.

Ethics statement

All animal experiments were approved by the Ethical Committee of Second Hospital of Hebei Medical University.

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Tian, Y., Liu, Y., **ao, Y. et al. Alternative Biological Material for Tissue Engineering of the Vagina: Porcine-Derived Acellular Vaginal Matrix. Tissue Eng Regen Med 21, 277–290 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13770-023-00604-2

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