Preparation and Characterization of Extracellular Matrix Hydrogels Derived from Acellular Cartilage Tissue

Decellularized matrices can effectively reduce severe immune rejection with their cells and eliminated nucleic acid material and provide specific environments for tissue repair or tissue regeneration. In this study, we prepared acellular cartilage matrix (ACM) powder through the decellularization method and developed ACM hydrogels by physical, chemical, and enzymatic digestion methods. The results demonstrated that the small size group of ACM hydrogels exhibited better gel conditions when the concentration of ACM hydrogels was 30 and 20 mg/mL in 1N HCl through parameter adjustment. The data also confirmed that the ACM hydrogels retained the main components of cartilage: 61.18% of glycosaminoglycan (GAG) and 78.29% of collagen, with 99.61% of its DNA removed compared to samples without the decellularization procedure (set as 100%). Through turbidimetric gelation kinetics, hydrogel rheological property analysis, and hydrogel tissue physical property testing, this study also revealed that increasing hydrogel concentration is helpful for gelation. Besides, the ex vivo test confirmed that a higher concentration of ACM hydrogels had good adhesive properties and could fill in cartilage defects adequately. This study offers useful information for developing and manufacturing ACM hydrogels to serve as potential alternative scaffolds for future cartilage defect treatment.