Decellularized Porcine Cartilage Scaffold: Validation of Decellularization and Evaluation of Biomarkers of Chondrogenesis

Osteoarthritis is a major concern in the United States and worldwide. Current non‐surgical and surgical approaches alleviate pain but show little evidence of cartilage restoration. Cell‐based treatments may hold promise for the regeneration of hyaline cartilage‐like tissue at the site of injury or wear. Cell–cell and cell–matrix interactions have been shown to drive cell differentiation path-ways. Biomaterials for clinically relevant applications can be generated from decellularized porcine auricular cartilage. This material may represent a suitable scaffold on which to seed and grow chon-drocytes to create new cartilage. In this study, we used decellularization techniques to create an extracellular matrix scaffold that supports chondrocyte cell attachment and growth in tissue culture conditions. Results presented here evaluate the decellularization process histologically and molec-ularly. We identified new and novel biomarker profiles that may aid future cartilage decellulariza-tion efforts. Additionally, the resulting scaffold was characterized using scanning electron micros-copy, fluorescence microscopy, and proteomics. Cellular response to the decellularized scaffold was evaluated by quantitative real‐time PCR for gene expression analysis.