Removal of Porcine Endogenous Retroviruses in Decellularized Liver Bioscaffolds

Tissue engineering using decellularized liver scaffolds presents a promising approach in regenerative medicine, offering a potential alternative to donor organ transplantation. The use of human livers as a bioscaffold is restricted by their limited availability and quality. Porcine livers offer an alternative due to their anatomical and physiological similarities to human livers. However, applying porcine-derived biomaterials in a clinical setting poses a risk of pathogen transmission, which is a noteworthy concern. Porcine endogenous retroviruses (PERVs), which are integrated into the genome of all pig breeds, are of particular concern, as subclasses PERV-A and PERV-B have shown to infect human cells in vitro. It is therefore essential to effectively remove all PERVs when manufacturing porcine scaffolds. In this study, we assessed the presence of PERV-specific DNA, RNA, and protein in decellularized porcine livers. Our findings prove that genetic and protein PERV material was effectively removed from porcine livers during our decellularization procedure. This finding substantiates the potential of using decellularized scaffolds of porcine origin for clinical applications without risk of PERV transmission.