Background: Meniscus tissue engineering has provided a great potential treatment for meniscal injuries. However, few scaffolds in meniscus tissue engineering have matched the mechanical properties of native meniscus.
Objective: In this study, we developed a composite scaffold using decellularized meniscus extracellular matrix (DMECM) and gelatin/chitosan (G/C) to explore a preferable ratio to enhance the elastic modulus and cytotoxicity properties of scaffolds.
Methods: The microstructure, porosity, cytotoxicity, and strength of the composite scaffolds were evaluated. The micro-architectures of the samples were evaluated using scanning electron microscope (SEM). Fourier Transform Infrared analysis (FTIR) was used to confirm the chemical structure with different type composite scaffolds. The compressive elastic modulus of all the scaffolds were measured by the universal tensile testing machine DNS300. Calcein-AM (fluorescent green) and propidium iodide (fluorescent red) were used to stain live cells and dead cells. Morphology and spatial distribution of cells within scaffolds were observed by confocal laser scanning microscopy FV 1000.
Results: SEM showed that the composite scaffolds had suitable porous structure. CCK-8 and live/dead staining demonstrated that the composite scaffolds had no cytotoxicity and could promote bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) proliferation. The FTIR results demonstrated the successful mixing of these two elements, and the addition of DMECM improved the elastic modulus and cytotoxicity of G/C composite scaffolds.
Conclusions: This study developed a composite scaffold using DMECM and G/C, and demonstrated that it might be suitable for meniscal tissue engineering application.
Keywords: Meniscus extracellular matrix; compressive elastic modulus; cytotoxicity; gelatin/chitosan scaffolds; meniscal tissue engineering.