Tissue engineering is a new area of research that aims to repair damaged tissues and organs. Scaffolds are one of the most important parts of tissue engineering. Decellularized tissues and organs have been successfully used in a variety of tissue engineering/regenerative medicine applications. There are various methods for decellularization which are tissue-specific. The efficiency of cell removal from a tissue is dependent on the origin of the tissue and the specific physical, chemical, and enzymatic methods for decellularization used. The aim of this study was to fabricate a biological scaffold by decellularization of bovine tendon for possible applications in tissue engineering. After collection of the tendons from male bovine, a combination of physical, enzymatic and chemical methods were used. To do so, tendons were sliced and immersed in liquid nitrogen. Slices of tendon were then treated with trypsin/PBS (phosphate buffered saline) solution and were incubated in a shaker incubator. In the next step, the slices of tendon were teareted with Triton X-100 for 24 h. Finally the decellularized tendon matrix (DTM) was sterilized with UV light and then washed with 70% ethanol and PBS. Histological studies demonstrated that these procedures were suitable for decellularization of bovine tendon and also conservation of collagen type I, that is the most abundant fiber in the structure of connective tissues such as tendon, dermis, bone and gingiva. Designed scaffold with these properties may have useful applications in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.

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