FIG. 3.

The decellularized liver matrix preserves entire vascular bed and bile ducts. TEM images larger vessels of native liver and decellularized liver (a). Representative photographs of decellularized left lateral and median lobes of rat liver, with the vascular tree visible. A corrosion cast model of native liver and the decellularized liver shows portal (blue), arterial (red) vasculature and venous vasculature (yellow), and bile duct (green) (b, c). Representative photographs of visible microvascular tree (d), after perfusion with blue dye in the organ chamber (e). Cell engraftment efficiency percentage in three different cell-seeding techniques (p<0.0001) (f) (n=3). SEM micrographs of recellularized liver graft after 4 days in culture using three different cell-seeding techniques (g–i). Scale bars: 5 μm (a), 1 mm (b, c), 5 mm (d), 10 μm (g–i). E, elastin; C, collagen; BM, basement membrane. Error bars represent SE (n=3). Color images available online at www.liebertonline.com/tec