Abstract
INTRODUCTION: The presence of natural proteins [1] and a decreased riskof infection and thrombosis [2] are the main characteristics of decellularized blood vessel scaffold when compared to synthetic grafts. Tissue decellularization provides a biological matrix preserving native components while removing cellular immunogenic material.
Since currently available decellularization protocols are mainly focused on arteries and take more than a day [2], our goal was to develop a fast decellularization procedure for preparation of xenogeneic vein grafts.