Objective      To investigate in vitro biological characteristics of genipin (GP)-crosslinked acellular spinal cord  in order to provide an ideal biomaterial for tissue engineering application of spinal cord injury.       Methods      Rat spinal cord tissues were decellularized by the chemical extraction method

followed by chemical crosslinking with 5 g/L genipin solution. The micro-structure of the un-crosslinked and GP-crosslinked acellular spinal cords were observed with HE staining and scanning electron microscopy

and the properties of pore size

crosslinking degree

water uptake ratio

and stability in PBS and tripsin were tested as well. The rat bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells were cultured in lixivium of un-crosslinked and GP-crosslinked acellular spinal cord

and then

MTT assay was used to evaluate in vitro cytotoxicity.        Results      The un-crosslinked and GP-crosslinked acellular spinal cords possessed a similar porous structure with an average pore diameter about 30 μm

the final crosslinking rate was about 90%

the water uptake ratio were decreased from (283.4±11.2)% to (229.7±12.5)% and the stability in PBS and trypsin were significantly enhanced by GP-crosslinking. Furthermore

no obvious cytotoxicity was observed in both group.       Conclusion      The GP-crosslinked acellular spinal cord is a potential tissue engineering material for spinal cord injury repairing application.