Hydrogels characterization for Skeletal Muscle Regeneration

Skeletal muscles represent 40% of body mass and it can be damaged by tumour removal, traumatic injuries and diseases. Typically, smaller injuries are repaired by the body through the activation of satellite cells while traumatic injuries such as congenital abnormalities, denervation or tumour ablation lead to the loss of muscle functions. Although great efforts have been dedicated to better understand the mechanisms controlling muscle regeneration, few attention have been paid on the clinical approaches used to treat muscle injuries and wasting (1). To date, tissue engineering could represent a promising strategy for regenerating the lost tissue (2). This study characterized the morphological and molecular features of C2C12 myotubes cultured on natural hydrogel obtained from the decellularization of bovine pericardium (dECM).