Macro and Microstructural Characteristics of North Atlantic Deep-Sea Sponges as Bioinspired Models for Tissue Engineering Scaffolding

Abstract

Sponges occur ubiquitously in the marine realm and in some deep-sea areas they dominate the benthic communities forming complex biogenic habitats – sponge grounds, aggregations, gardens and reefs. However, deep-sea sponges and sponge-grounds are still poorly investigated with regards to biotechnological potential in support of a Blue growth strategy. Under the scope of this study, five dominant North Atlantic deep-sea sponges, were characterized to elucidate promising applications in human health, namely for bone tissue engineering approaches. Geodia barretti (Gb), Geodia atlantica (Ga), Stelletta normani (Sn), Phakellia ventilabrum (Pv), and Axinella infundibuliformis (Ai), were morphologically characterized to assess macro and microstructural features, as well as chemical composition of the skeletons, using optical and scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy and microcomputed tomography analyses. Moreover, compress tests were conducted to determine the mechanical properties of the skeletons. Results showed that all studied sponges have porous skeletons with porosity higher than 68%, pore size superior than 149 μm and higher interconnectivity (>96%), thus providing interesting models for the development of scaffolds for tissue engineering. Besides that, EDS analyses revealed that the chemical composition of sponges, pointed that demosponge skeletons are mainly constituted by carbon, silicon, sulfur, and oxygen combined mutually with organic and inorganic elements embedded its internal architecture that can be important features for promoting bone matrix quality and bone mineralization. Finally, the morphological, mechanical, and chemical characteristics here investigated unraveled the potential of deep-sea sponges as a source of biomaterials and biomimetic models envisaging tissue engineering applications for bone regeneration.

Guidelines derived from biomineralized tissues for design and construction of high-performance biomimetic materials: from weak to strong

“…A recent study indicated that the skeletal motifs of the deep-sea glass sponge Euplectella aspergillum could reduce the overall hydrodynamic stress and support coherent internal recirculation patterns at low flow velocity, revealing the mechanisms of its extraordinary adaptation to live in the abyss. 167 In recent years, researchers have shown significant interest in studying the structure and hierarchical assembly of the siliceous skeleton of glass sponges, [168][169][170][171] leading to exciting advances and deeper insights into glass sponges.…”

A forgotten element of the blue economy: marine biomimetics and inspiration from the deep sea

“…The former is frequently not available, and the latter two carry risk of disease transmission and host rejection, posing a major biomedical challenge ( 271 ). Siliceous scaffolds provide an attractive source of either xenografts or biomimetic constructs inspired by their structure ( 268 ). A recent study found diversity in porosity and pore size among representative deep-sea sponge species ( Geodia barretti, Geodia atlantica, Stelletta normani, Phakellia ventilabrum , and Axinella infundibuliformis ), suggesting varying inspirations for tissue engineering applications ( 268 ).…”

“…Deep-sea sponges have attracted intense interest, as they are known to form siliceous skeletons characterized by high levels of porosity that can act as natural tissue scaffolds [247][248][249][250] . A challenge of treating bone defects in humans is the need for bone substitution materials, with the traditional sources being the patient themself (autogenous grafts), other individuals of the same species (allograft materials), or non-human species (xenografts) 251 .…”

Biomechanical Characterization of Scallop Shells Exposed to Ocean Acidification and Warming

“…A powerful and highly accurate tool for digitizing real geometries, among other studies, is computational microtomography (micro-CT) scanners, where 3D reconstruction volumes can be obtained layer by layer, and then mesh this geometry in order to perform a numerical simulation using the FEM to evaluate the mechanical response with high accuracy ( Arabnejad et al, 2016 ; Wu et al, 2018 ; Cheong et al, 2020 ). Recent studies have used this technology to examine the internal architecture of marine organisms, evaluating porosity, pore size and interconnectivity, and anisotropic features ( Martins et al, 2021 ). The model generated using micro-CT technology allows to perform an inverse adjustment of the mechanical properties in these complex geometries and thus compare the experimental mechanical response of the tests with the corresponding numerical simulation ( Bustos et al, 2016 ).…”