Crosslinked soft tissue graft and methods of use thereof
The invention relates to crosslinked soft tissue grafts and methods of use thereof. The invention also relates to methods of preparing the same.
1. A method of preparing a sterilized crosslinked soft tissue graft, comprising:
(i) selecting a soft tissue graft,
(ii) decellularizing the soft tissue graft,
(iii) incubating the soft tissue graft with a crosslinking agent to produce biocompatible secondary amine bonds and a crosslinked soft tissue graft, wherein production of the biocompatible secondary amine bonds is the sole crosslinking step in the process,
(iv) removing the crosslinking agent after the incubation period,
(v) rinsing the crosslinked soft tissue graft in a buffer without the crosslinking agent,
(vi) packaging the crosslinked soft tissue graft, and
(vii) sterilizing the crosslinked soft tissue graft.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the crosslinked soft tissue graft is resistant to enzymatic degradation and capable of maintaining cell infiltration.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the crosslinked soft tissue graft has a degree of crosslinking of about 10% to about 40%.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the crosslinking is conducted at a pH of 8 to 12.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the soft tissue graft is dermal, tendon or ligament tissue.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the crosslinked soft tissue graft has a degree of crosslinking of about 10% to about 60%.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the crosslinked soft tissue graft has a degree of crosslinking is of about 10% to about 35%.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the crosslinked soft tissue graft has a degree of crosslinking is fromof about 10% to about 30%.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the crosslinked soft tissue graft has a degree of crosslinking is fromof about 20% to about 40%.
10. The method of claim 1 , where in the crosslinking agent comprises a diepoxide or a bisepoxide linker.
11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the linker is 1,4 butanediol diglycidyl ether.
12. The method of claim 10 , wherein the linker is 1,2,7,8 diepoxyoctane.
13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the soft tissue graft is selected from a group consisting of dermis, fascia lata, tendon, ligament, blood vessel, muscle, pericardium, amniotic membrane, chorionic membrane, and submucosal subintestine.
14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the soft tissue graft comprises dermal tissue.
15. The method of claim 1 , wherein the soft tissue graft comprises human dermal tissue.
16. The method of claim 1 , wherein the soft tissue graft comprises tendon tissue.
17. The method of claim 1 , wherein the soft tissue graft comprises ligament tissue.
18. The method of claim 1 , wherein the soft tissue graft is human tissue.
19. The method of claim 1 , wherein the soft tissue graft is resistant to collagenase.
20. The method of claim 1 , further comprising treating the crosslinked soft tissue graft with a plasticizer.