Decellularization of Bovine Cancellous Bone for Bone Tissue Engineering Application

Cancellous bovine bone represents an inexhaustible source of material for bone tissue engineering. However, its natural marrow-filled structure can greatly limit the efficacy and prolong the duration of the decellularization procedure. Here this research formulates an efficient, shorten decellularization protocol for cancellous bovine bone with an initial delipidation step to improve the effect of following methods. The samples were then treated with a series of physical and chemical treatments including thermal shock and detergent wash. The samples acquired from this protocol have shown effective removal of cellular materials and fat while maintaining the essential bone extracellular matrix, which was confirmed through scanning electron microscopy observation and histological staining results. The decellularized bone showed potential to be further investigated, developed and combined with other material to create biocompatible scaffold for bone tissue engineering application.