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.

中文翻译：

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用于半月板组织工程的脱细胞半月板细胞外基质和明胶/壳聚糖支架的开发。

背景技术半月板组织工程已经为半月板损伤提供了巨大的潜在治疗方法。然而，半月板组织工程中很少有支架与天然半月板的机械性能相匹配。目的在这项研究中，我们开发了一种使用脱细胞半月板细胞外基质（DMECM）和明胶/壳聚糖（G / C）的复合支架，以探索提高支架弹性模量和细胞毒性的最佳比例。方法评估复合支架的微观结构，孔隙率，细胞毒性和强度。使用扫描电子显微镜（SEM）评估样品的微结构。使用傅立叶变换红外分析（FTIR）来确认不同类型复合支架的化学结构。通过通用拉伸试验机DNS300测量所有支架的压缩弹性模量。钙黄绿素-AM（荧光绿）和碘化丙啶（荧光红）用于染色活细胞和死细胞。共聚焦激光扫描显微镜FV 1000观察支架内细胞的形态和空间分布。结果SEM表明复合支架具有合适的多孔结构。CCK-8和活/死染色表明复合支架没有细胞毒性，可以促进骨髓间充质干细胞（BMSCs）增殖。FTIR结果证明了这两种元素的成功混合，而DMECM的添加改善了G / C复合支架的弹性模量和细胞毒性。结论本研究使用DMECM和G / C开发了一种复合支架，