Cytocompatibility of a matrix of methylated cassava starch and chitosan

Abstract

Starches can be used to form edible or biodegradable films, and recently modified starches have been used to form self-supporting films by casting from aqueous solution. In this work, we aimed to propose a novel starch-based composite biomaterial matrix for use in biomedical applications, especially tissue engineering. The goal of the study was to evaluate the cytocompatibility of composite hydrogels of methylated starch and chitosan, using glutaraldehyde as the cross-linker. Commercial cassava starch with high purity (96.69%) was methylated with dimethyl sulfate in order to obtain a rigid material that could possibly render stronger mechanical properties to chitosan hydrogels. Therefore, methylated starch was mixed with a solution of chitosan and the crosslinking was induced by the addition of glutaraldehyde, allowing the formation of hydrogel films which were visualized under scanning electron microscopy. The method of fabrication was optimized based on the capacity of the cells to attach to the material and proliferate. After thorough washes with ethanol and saline solution, human fibroblasts were seeded on top of the gels and allowed to grow for 3 to 5 days. Cell viability was measured using an (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) MMT Downloaded from assay, and cell morphology was visualized by light microscopy. It was found that cells were viable at every time point, with their metabolic activity comparable to the controls (tissue culture plastic and chitosan alone), as well as clear cell-matrix interactions. Moreover, an increase in the metabolic activity over time indicated the capacity of the material to support cell proliferation. The proposed methylated starch-chitosan system is an excellent matrix that allows cell adhesion and could thereby be further assessed as a scaffold for tissue engineering.

New Developments in Medical Applications of Hybrid Hydrogels Containing Natural Polymers

“…The synthesis of starch hydrogels is determined by important features such as gelatinization and retrogradation, which are in turn affected by amylose and amylopectin ratio [118]. The hydrogels obtained from native starch, pure starch components and their derivatives are hydrophilic and of great significance in the biomedical domain because of their good swelling capacity in water, biocompatibility and biodegradability [119]. Carrageenan (CG) family of polysaccharides are soluble in hot water (>60 • C) and forms thermoreversible gels in a process that is dependent on temperature (when dropped down to 30 • C-40 • C gelation occurs) and the type of ions [120].…”

Porous Sponges from the Mesocarp of Theobroma Cacao L. Pod Shells for Potential Biomaterial Applications

“…As the agricultural residue represented by cacao pod shells is rich in these biopolymers, we believe that it can be used to generate porous structures that could potentially be used as biomaterials. Thus, they would represent feasible alternatives to other biopolymers, both natural or synthetic, more commonly used in the fabrication of such matrices, namely chitosan, poly-a hydroxy esters, and alginate, among others [15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24] .…”

Mesenchymal Stem Cell Culture on Composite Hydrogels of Hydroxyapatite Nanoparticles and Photo-Crosslinking Chitosan

“…El tejido óseo presenta una limitada capacidad auto-regenerativa bajo diferentes condiciones, tales como las lesiones de gran tamaño, baja actividad celular, cáncer, y otras patologías. En estas circunstancias, es necesaria la búsqueda de soluciones externas como prótesis e injertos biológico (autoinjertos, aloinjertos y xenoinjertos) [1] , los cuales presentan diferentes limitaciones que abarcan desde la falta de integración con el organismo (osteointegración) hasta los riesgos de rechazo y transmisión de enfermedades [2,3] . La ingeniería de tejidos nace como una alternativa viable, haciendo uso de componentes como células (progenitoras o diferenciadas), factores de crecimiento y diferenciación, y andamios biofuncionales hechos de biomateriales [1,2] .…”