Importance

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Abstract

The invention provides an article of manufacture comprising a substantially non-immunogenic knee meniscal xenograft for implantation into humans. The invention further provides methods for preparing a knee meniscal xenograft by removing at least a portion of a meniscus from a non-human animal to provide a xenograft; washing the xenograft in saline and alcohol; and subjecting the xenograft to at least one treatment selected from the group consisting of exposure to ultraviolet radiation, immersion in alcohol, ozonation, and freeze/thaw cycling. In addition to or in lieu of the above treatments, the methods include a cellular disruption treatment and either digestion of the carbohydrate moieties of the xenograft with a glycosidase in a range of about 1 mU/ml to about 1000 U/ml or glycosidase digestion followed by treatment for sialylation. The invention also provides articles of manufacture produced by one or more of the above-identified methods of the invention. The invention further provides a meniscal xenograft for implantation into a human including a portion of a meniscus from a non-human animal, wherein the portion includes extracellular matrix and substantially only dead cells. The matrix and dead cells have substantially no surface .alpha.-galactosyl moieties and have sialic acid molecules linked to at least a portion of surface carbohydrate moieties. Each of the xenografts of the invention is substantially non-immunogenic and has substantially the same mechanical properties as the respective native meniscus.

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First Claim