Bovine tendon–derived acellular matrix retains native extracellular architecture and supports osteogenic and adipogenic differentiation of human mesenchymal stem cells

Articles in Press

Document Type : Research Articles

Authors

Mahboubeh Elahifar ¹

Minoo Hosseinimehr ¹

Halimeh Hassanzadeh ²

Nasser Mahdavi-Shahri ¹

Maryam M. Matin ¹

¹ Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran

² Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine Research Group, ACECR-Khorasan Razavi Branch, Mashhad, Iran

10.22067/jcmr.2026.92836.1111

Abstract

The recent advances in stem cell biology and tissue engineering are becoming progressively oriented towards designing natural cellular microenvironments as scaffolds to improve cell growth, differentiation and functional assembly. Scaffolds are one of the most important components of tissue engineering. Decellularized tissues and organs, either alone or combined with other compositions have been successfully used as scaffolds in regenerative medicine. The purpose of this study was fabricating a biological scaffold by decellularization of the bovine tendon as a biomatrix. Biomatrix is one of the scaffolds made of natural extracellular matrix (ECM) components that are derived from decellularized tissues. The effects of biomatrix on the growth and differentiation of human adipose derived mesenchymal stem cells (hAd-MSCs) were then evaluated in vitro. The bovine tendon was decellularized by physical, enzymatic, and chemical treatments. Histological staining demonstrated that these treatments successfully removed the cells and cell debris from tendon while the conservation of collagen, proteoglycans, glycosaminoglycans, and glycoproteins indicated good preservation of the ECM. Furthermore, cell survival, growth and differentiation were assessed on the tendon biomatrix. The results indicated that the biomatrix could support the survival and division of hAd-MSCs. Comparison of culture on biomatrix and plastic surfaces indicated the significant inductive effects of biomatrix on proliferation, osteogenic and adipogenic differentiation potential of the cells. In conclusion, this tendon biomatrix may have useful applications in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, although further in vivo studies are required to prove this.

Keywords: adipose derived mesenchymal stem cells, biomatrix, scaffolds, tendon, osteogenic differentiation, adipogenic differentiation

Keywords

adipose derived mesenchymal stem cells

biomatrix

scaffolds

tendon

osteogenic differentiation

adipogenic differentiation

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