Objective  To compare the effect of 2 decellularizing methods

sodium deoxycholate plus Triton X-100 or plus DNase and Rnase

in the preparation of acelluar allograft spinal cord scaffold in order to provide an ideal natural spinal cord scaffold to bridge the nerve gap. Methods  Spinal cord was removed from health rats

and then decellularized by the method of freeze thawing (immersing in 3% sodium deoxycholate followed by the mixture of 1×10

3

U/ml DNase and RNase)

or by chemical extraction (immersing in 1% Triton X-100 and then 1% sodium deoxycholate). HE staining

myelin staining and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were employed to evaluate the spinal cord scaffold after the 2 methods of decellularization. R

esults  Both cells and myelin were completely decellularized with the 2 methods. In cross section

network of the extracellular matrix was presented without axon

sheath and cells nucleus being seen in the scaffold. Typical network of empty tubes were viewed in longitudinal sections. Conclusion  An ideal spinal cord scaffold can be produced with these 2 decellularizing methods in tissue engineering. The scaffold made by the 2 methods have similar three dimensional structure with normal spinal cord

so can be used as a graft to bridge the nerve gap directly or as a scaffold to implant the seeding cells in spinal cord tissue engineering.