Fig. 1.
Solubilization of ECM from inner and outer meniscus. (A) Whole menisci were obtained from 6–8 week old cow hindlimbs, (B) halved, and (C) manually minced (8–27 mm3). Following decellularization, (D) tissues were cryomilled and soluble fractions were obtained either by (E) urea-extraction (supernatant was retained, yellow line) or (F) acid-pepsin digestion. SDS-PAGE of (G) inner meniscus and (H) outer meniscus tissues and soluble preparations demonstrate that urea extraction (imECM, omECM) retained low and moderate molecular weight proteins while pepsin digestion (imAP, omAP) yielded mostly collagen.