Fig. 2. Enzymatic digestion of decellularized ECM scaffolds releases small RNA molecules.

(A) Nucleic acid extracted from untreated UBM (no digest) and pepsin-, proteinase K–, or collagenase-treated UBM was exposed to RNase A, DNase I, or no-nuclease treatment (control). (B) Electropherogram depicting the small RNA pattern of nucleic acid in fluorescence units (FU) before (top panel) and after (bottom panel) DNase I treatment. (C) Electropherogram depicting small RNA pattern from the indicated samples in FU. (D) A subset of nucleic molecules in biologic scaffolds is protected from nuclease degradation.