Novel Hydrogel Membranes Based on the Bacterial Polysaccharide FucoPol: Design, Characterization and Biological Properties

Abstract

FucoPol, a fucose-rich polyanionic polysaccharide, was used for the first time for the preparation of hydrogel membranes (HMs) using Fe3+ as a crosslinking agent. This study evaluated the impact of Fe3+ and FucoPol concentrations on the HMs’ strength. The results show that, above 1.5 g/L, Fe3+ concentration had a limited influence on the HMs’ strength, and varying the FucoPol concentration had a more significant effect. Three different FucoPol concentrations (1.0, 1.75 and 2.5 wt.%) were combined with Fe3+ (1.5 g/L), resulting in HMs with a water content above 97 wt.% and an Fe3+ content up to 0.16 wt.%. HMs with lower FucoPol content exhibited a denser porous microstructure as the polymer concentration increased. Moreover, the low polymer content HM presented the highest swelling ratio (22.3 ± 1.8 g/g) and a lower hardness value (32.4 ± 5.8 kPa). However, improved mechanical properties (221.9 ± 10.2 kPa) along with a decrease in the swelling ratio (11.9 ± 1.6 g/g) were obtained for HMs with a higher polymer content. Furthermore, all HMs were non-cytotoxic and revealed anti-inflammatory activity. The incorporation of FucoPol as a structuring agent and bioactive ingredient in the development of HMs opens up new possibilities for its use in tissue engineering, drug delivery and wound care management.

Cryoprotective Polysaccharides with Ordered Gel Structures Induce Ice Growth Anticipation and Survival Enhancement during Cell Cryopreservation

“…15 In this work, we focused on elucidating structural trends in biobased polysaccharides from several natural sources, by correlating rheological, thermodynamic, and conformational properties to cell cryopreservation performance. A referential molecule hereby studied and to which other polymers were contrasted with is FucoPol, an extracellular bacterial polysaccharide, with demonstrated bioactivity 16,17 and thoroughly explored cryoprotective action. 18−23 FucoPol has a fucose, galactose, glucose, and glucuronic acid hexamer motif (2.0:1.9:0.9:0.5 M ratio) that finely balances neutral monomers with a terminal branched chain of anionic monomers.…”

“…In this work, we focused on elucidating structural trends in biobased polysaccharides from several natural sources, by correlating rheological, thermodynamic, and conformational properties to cell cryopreservation performance. A referential molecule hereby studied and to which other polymers were contrasted with is FucoPol, an extracellular bacterial polysaccharide, with demonstrated bioactivity , and thoroughly explored cryoprotective action. − FucoPol has a fucose, galactose, glucose, and glucuronic acid hexamer motif (2.0:1.9:0.9:0.5 M ratio) that finely balances neutral monomers with a terminal branched chain of anionic monomers. The presence of glucuronic acid, as well as the acyl substituents pyruvyl and succinyl, confers a polyanionic character to the biopolymer, while its polar periodicity resembles the structural repeating unit (SRU) responsible for the hyperactive adsorption–inhibition ice hindering mechanism , of antifreeze proteins .…”

Features of the Formation of a Reinforcing Coating on Hydrogel Membranes Based on Polyvinylpyrrolidone Copolymers

“…Precisely because of the high permeability for liquids and gases, as well as the ability to absorb low-molecular substances, polymer hydrogels are widely used for the production of various types of diffusion membranes [14][15][16]. Important requirements for the operational properties of hydrogel membranes are a combination of high physicomechanical and diffusion-transport characteristics [17]. For practice, of course, the most interesting are hydrogels with the maximum amount of water, the content of which depends on the porosity of the material.…”

Fucose is an essential feature in cryoprotective polysaccharides

“…In addition to their biocompatibility and cryoprotective potential, some natural polysaccharides possess a consortium of bioactive functions, namely osmoregulatory (Khudyakov et al, 2015; Liu et al, 2013), anti-inflammatory (Araújo et al, 2023; Carillo et al, 2011; Khudyakov et al, 2015), antitumoral (Jiang et al, 2006; Kazak Sarilmiser & Toksoy Oner, 2014), immunoregulatory (Carillo et al, 2011; Ruiz-Ruiz et al, 2011), wound healing (Concórdio-Reis et al, 2020; Cui et al, 2022), gel-forming (Akan & Oner, 2021; Araújo et al, 2023; Fialho et al, 2019), emulsifying (Baptista et al, 2022; X. Chen et al, 2019; Nakamura et al, 2004) and neuroprotective (Xu et al, 2022) effects, among others, that further support their broad use in the preservation of complex biological systems which benefit from increased multifunctionality.…”