Abstract

The objective of my current research is the development of an experimental organ model comprising a plant-based biomaterial as carrier tissue. These are used in medical science to simulate diseases and therapies in a petri dish in order to develop new treatment approaches.

There is scarcely a suggestion of an organ when observing a spinach leaf. Therefore, it was essential to develop a method capable of producing physiological biomaterials derived from plant tissue. The individual plant cells are surrounded by a cellulose cell wall structure, whereas decellularisation attempts to remove the entirety of intracellular content (DNA and RNA, fats, proteins, and sugars), leaving only the cell wall structure behind. The remaining material is biocompatible, which means, for example, that cells can grow in the environment provided by the biomaterial. That is a prerequisite as a carrier material.

However, the established methods and protocols of decellularisation are intricate as well as time-consuming. Therefore, I investigated and redesigned various decellularisation protocols of mammalian and plant tissues. Besides, I developed a decellularisation mechanism that enables complete decellularisation of plant tissues within two days and is currently subject to patent registration. In addition, I programmed software to investigate the decellularisation progression thus reducing the obligation for time-consuming dsDNA quantification.

Then, human skin cells were seeded onto the biomaterial to observe the cultivation distribution, growth and adherence of the human cells. Currently, I will conduct experiments with stem cells to pave the way for organ model development.