Biofunctionalization of Ulvan Scaffolds for Bone Tissue Engineering

Abstract

Photo-cross-linked ulvan scaffolds were designed with the aim to induce and support enzyme mediated formation of apatite minerals, in the absence of osteogenic growth factors. Scaffold formation with a desired geometry was investigated using chemically modified ulvan bearing radically polymerizable groups. Further bioactivity was incorporated by the use of alkaline phosphatase (ALP) induced minerals. Successful modification of UV cross-linked ulvan scaffolds was revealed by (1)H NMR. The presence of the mineral formation was evidenced by Raman spectroscopy and XRD techniques. Investigations of the morphology confirmed the homogeneous mineralization using ALP. The MC3T3 cell activity clearly showed that the mineralization of the biofunctionalized ulvan scaffolds was effective in improving the cellular activity.

Seaweed polysaccharides and their potential biomedical applications

“…Biofunctionalized ulvan hydrogels with ALP enzyme serves as mineralization inducers in osteoblastic differentiation and the cytocompatibilty of ulvan as well as it relative membrane are promising features for scaffold development . The intermolecular charges of ulvan and chitosan (anionic and cationic charges respectively) produce stable supramolecular structures via electrostatic interactions and can form stabilized membranes.…”

“…FT–IR analyses further sheath light on the phase structure of the produced minerals and was found to be composed of apatite. This scaffold can be a good bone graft substitute for its non‐toxic and therefore improved osteogenic cells’ activity .…”

Enzymatically Crosslinked Ulvan Hydrogels as Injectable Systems for Cell Delivery

“…Both physical and chemical crosslinkings were involved in the preparation of ulvan hydrogels by developing polyelectrolyte complexes with chitosan, hybrid nanofi bers by physical mixture with biocompatible polymers and covalent networks by using reactive crosslinkers and UV light. [9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16] Our aim was the development of novel injectable hydrogels by means of environmentally safe procedures in order to convert the algal biomass from waste material into a particularly advantageous biomedical device by means of sustainable processes. Indeed the present study reports the unexploited preparation of in situ gelling system based on ulvan crosslinked by enzymatic action aimed at the development of injectable hydrogels.…”

Enzymatically biomineralized chitosan scaffolds for tissue-engineering applications

“…ALP is secreted by osteoblasts and assists in liberating phosphates from organic phosphates, facilitating the precipitation of calcium phosphate crystals (Osathanon et al , ). Although extensive studies have been performed on both the biopolymer chitosan and the utilization of ALP for inducing biomineralization (Samal et al , ; Douglas et al , ; Dash et al , ), our proposed approach involves two distinct points that are hypothesized to play an important role in the process of mineralization. First, the applied chitosan scaffolds are not crosslinked, allowing all functional groups of the polymer to participate in the biomineralization process and the subsequent interaction with the seeded cells.…”