Due to the limited supply of autologous bone grafts, there is a need to develop more bone matrix materials to repair bone defects. Xenograft bone is expected to be used for clinical treatment due to its exact structural similarity to natural bone and its high biocompatibility. In this study, decellularized antler cancellous bone matrix (DACB) was first prepared, and then the extent of decellularization of DACB was verified by histological staining, which demonstrated that it retained the extracellular matrix (ECM). The bioactivity of DACB was assessed using C3H10T1/2 cells, revealing that DACB enhanced cell proliferation and facilitated cell adhesion and osteogenic differentiation. When evaluated by implanting DACB into nude mice, there were no signs of necrosis or inflammation in the epidermal tissues. The bone repair effect of DACB was verified in vivo using sika deer during the antler growth period as an animal model, and the molecular mechanisms of bone repair were further evaluated by transcriptomic analysis of the regenerated tissues. Our findings suggest that the low immunogenicity of DACB enhances the production of bone extracellular matrix components, leading to effective osseointegration between bone and DACB. This study provides a new reference for solving bone defects.

The combination of scaffold materials and bioactive factors is a promising strategy for promoting bone defect repair in tissue engineering. Previous studies have shown that osteoglycin (OGN) is highly expressed in the bone repair process using deer antler as an animal model of bone defects. It suggests that OGN may be a key active component involved in the bone repair process. The aim of this study was to investigate whether deer OGN (dOGN) could effectively promote bone regeneration. We successfully expressed dOGN using the E. coli pET30a system and evaluated its biological activity through cell proliferation and migration assays. At a concentration of 5 μg/mL, dOGN significantly promoted cell proliferation and migration. We then incorporated dOGN onto decellularized antler cancellous bone (DACB) scaffolds and assessed their osteogenic potential both in vitro and in vivo. The results indicated that dOGN loading enhanced cell proliferation, adhesion, and osteogenic activity. In vivo experiments confirmed that the dOGN-DACB scaffold significantly improved bone regeneration compared to DACB alone. This study demonstrates that dOGN-loaded DACB scaffolds hold great potential for clinical applications in treating critical-sized bone defects by mimicking the rapid regenerative properties of deer antlers.