Preparation of a nano- and micro-fibrous decellularized scaffold seeded with autologous mesenchymal stem cells for inguinal hernia repair

Yinlong Zhang,1,* Yuanyuan Zhou,1,* Xu Zhou,2,* Bin Zhao,1,* Jie Chai,1 Hongyi Liu,1 Yifei Zheng,1 Jinling Wang,3 Yaozong Wang,4 Yilin Zhao2 1Medical College, Xiamen University, 2Department of Oncology and Vascular Intervention Radiology, 3Department of Emergency, 4Department of Orthopaedics, Zhongshan Hospital, Xiamen University, Xiamen, People’s Republic of China *These authors contributed equally to this work Abstract: Prosthetic meshes used for hernioplasty are usually complicated with chronic pain due to avascular fibrotic scar or mesh shrinkage. In this study, we developed a tissue-engineered mesh (TEM) by seeding autologous bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells onto nanosized fibers decellularized aorta (DA). DA was achieved by decellularizing the aorta sample sequentially with physical, mechanical, biological enzymatic digestion, and chemical detergent processes. The tertiary structure of DA was constituted with micro-, submicro-, and nanosized fibers, and the original strength of fresh aorta was retained. Inguinal hernia rabbit models were treated with TEMs or acellular meshes (AMs). After implantation, TEM-treated rabbit models showed no hernia recurrence, whereas AM-treated animals displayed bulges in inguinal area. At harvest, TEMs were thicker, have less adhesion, and have stronger mechanical strength compared to AMs (P