BSA/HSA ratio modulates the properties of Ca2+-induced cold gelation scaffolds

Abstract

An effective tissue engineering approach requires adjustment according to the target tissue to be engineered. The possibility of obtaining a protein-based formulation for the development of multivalent tunable scaffolds that can be adapted for several types of cells and tissues is explored in this work. The incremental substitution of bovine serum albumin (BSA) by human serum albumin (HSA), changing the scaffolds' hydrophilic/hydrophobic ratio, on a previously optimized scaffold formulation resulted in a set of uniform porous scaffolds with different physical properties and associated cell proliferation profile along time. There was a general trend towards an increase in hydrophilicity, swelling degree and in vitro degradation of the scaffolds with increasing replacement of BSA by HAS. The set of BSA/HSA scaffolds presented distinct values for the storage (elastic) modulus and loss factor which were similar to those described for different native tissues such as bone, cartilage, muscle, skin and neural tissue. The preferential adhesion and proliferation of skin fibroblasts on the BSA25%HSA75% and HSA100% scaffolds, as predicted by their viscoelastic properties, demonstrate that the BSA/HSA scaffold formulation is promising for the development of scaffolds that can be tuned according to the tissue to be repaired and restored.

Influence of carbon anode properties on performance and microbiome of Microbial Electrolysis Cells operated on urine

“…The wettability of the electrode surfaces also influences the biofilm development and can lead to significant differences in MECs performance. Water contact angles between 60 and 80 have been described as an adequate level of surface wettability for optimal biofilm formation [31]. The hydrophilic property of the electrodes surface was determined by measuring the contact angle between the water droplet and the electrode surface.…”

Electric field effects on proteins – Novel perspectives on food and potential health implications

“…As previously discussed, EF can help to modulated the aggregation process and influence aggregates size, morphology and interactions, requirements needed to design micro or nano drug carriers (Jao, Xue, Medina, & Hu, 2017). Proteins also have been gaining interest in regenerative medicine and tissue engineering, where they are used for the production of biomaterials such as scaffolds to support cellular growth (Gomes, Leonor, Mano, Reis, & Kaplan, 2012;O'Brien, 2011;Ribeiro et al, 2016). The proved ability of EF to control protein network formation, from the molecular interactions established to the final network functionality, may present an interesting alternative to modulate and improve the functionality of such networks.…”

Albumin‐based hydrogels for regenerative engineering and cell transplantation

“…Interestingly, apart from applying high heat, it has been recently demonstrated that albumin hydrogels could be formed by salt‐induced cold gelation (Ribeiro et al, ). With the addition of calcium chloride and DL‐dithiothreitol to a BSA/HSA mix and heating at 60°C for 30 min, followed by cooling and freezing at −20°C for 2 days, an albumin hydrogel can be obtained.…”

“…Apart from human MSCs, human skin fibroblasts (BJ‐5ta; Ribeiro et al, ) and mouse adipose fibroblasts (L929; Hirose et al, ; Lisman et al, ) have also been cultured successfully on albumin hydrogels but these were used only in the context of cytotoxicity testing.…”