Comparable Decellularization of Fetal and Adult Cardiac Tissue Explants as 3D-like Platforms for In Vitro Studies

This method can help address important questions in the cardiovascular field about the impact the extracellular matrix has during different physiological and developmental stages of the heart. The main advantage of this technique is that it allows a comparative analysis between fetal and adult extracellular matrices by applying a similar decellularization method to both types of tissue. So this method have been successful applied to other organs such as surgical resections from cancer patients facilitating the study of the extracellular matrix in different contexts.

Begin by briefly rinsing the fetal and adult mouse hearts with ice-cold PBS. Then place the tissues under a dissecting microscope and use straight small scissors to remove the atria, right ventricle, and the septa from the adult mouse hearts. Transfer the left ventricle to a new Petri dish and divide the left ventricle free wall into two millimeter thick longitudinal strips.