Porcine small intestinal submucosa sheets as a scaffold for human bone marrow stem cells.

Native small intestinal submucosa (SIS) sheet was prepared by removal of inside and outside layer of porcine jejunum. The acid treated SIS sheet was also prepared by dipping of native SIS sheet in acetic acid solution. The native or acid treated SIS sheets exhibited elastic and soft property on touch. The surface of native SIS sheet appears to be covered with thin and long collagen fibers entangled into networks. The fibers and fibrils at acid treated SIS sheet disappeared due to the acidic erosion of collagen fiber. The water uptake of acid treated SIS sheet (1300%) was higher than that of the native SIS sheet (500%). The cell morphology and proliferation of human bone marrow stem cells (hBMSCs) on SIS sheet was examined. The hBMSCs on the SIS sheet showed a flattened morphology, while cells in the polyglycolic acid (PGA) mesh showed rounded cell morphology. The cell viability on native or acid treated SIS sheet was higher than that of PGA mesh. The hBMSCs in both native and acid treated SIS sheet were grown at a similar rate. The number of adhering hBMSCs increased with incubation time. Thus, we could confirm that native or acid treated SIS sheet could act as a potential scaffold to enhance the hBMSCs proliferation by providing probably natural environments.