TY - JOUR
T1 - Thixotropic Red Microalgae Sulfated Polysaccharide-Peptide Composite Hydrogels as Scaffolds for Tissue Engineering
AU - Halperin-Sternfeld, Michal
AU - Liberman, Gal Netanel
AU - Kannan, Raha
AU - Netti, Francesca
AU - Ma, Peter X.
AU - Arad, Shoshana Malis
AU - Adler-Abramovich, Lihi
N1 - Funding Information:
Acknowledgments: The authors acknowledge a Clore scholarship (M.H.-S), BSF (grant No. 2018102) (M.H.-S), GRTF travel grant (M.H.-S), and the ISRAEL SCIENCE FOUNDATION (grant No. 1732/17) (L.A.-A.) for support. This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No. 948102). Finally, we would like to acknowledge the Adler-Abramovich and Arad-Malis research groups for fruitful discussions.
Funding Information:
Funding: This research was funded by the European Research Council (ERC) under the (grant agreement No. 948102), the ISRAEL SCIENCE FOUNDATION (grant No. 1732/17), BSF (grant No. 2018102), Clore scholarship, and GRTF travel grant.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
PY - 2022/6/11
Y1 - 2022/6/11
N2 - Sulfated polysaccharides of red marine microalgae have recently gained much attention for biomedical applications due to their anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. However, their low mechanical properties limit their use in tissue engineering. Herein, to enhance the mechanical properties of the sulfated polysaccharide produced by the red marine microalga, Porphyridium sp. (PS), it was integrated with the fluorenylmethoxycarbonyl diphenylalanine (FmocFF) peptide hydrogelator. Transparent, stable hydrogels were formed when mixing the two components at a 1:1 ratio in three different concentrations. Electron microscopy showed that all hydrogels exhibited a nanofibrous structure, mimicking the extracellular matrix. Furthermore, the hydrogels were injectable, and tunable mechanical properties were obtained by changing the hydrogel concentration. The composite hydrogels allowed the sustained release of curcumin which was controlled by the change in the hydrogel concentration. Finally, the hydrogels supported MC3T3-E1 preosteoblasts viability and calcium deposition. The synergy between the sulfated polysaccharide, with its unique bioactivities, and FmocFF peptide, with its structural and mechanical properties, bears a promising potential for developing novel tunable scaffolds for tissue engineering that may allow cell differentiation into various lineages.
AB - Sulfated polysaccharides of red marine microalgae have recently gained much attention for biomedical applications due to their anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. However, their low mechanical properties limit their use in tissue engineering. Herein, to enhance the mechanical properties of the sulfated polysaccharide produced by the red marine microalga, Porphyridium sp. (PS), it was integrated with the fluorenylmethoxycarbonyl diphenylalanine (FmocFF) peptide hydrogelator. Transparent, stable hydrogels were formed when mixing the two components at a 1:1 ratio in three different concentrations. Electron microscopy showed that all hydrogels exhibited a nanofibrous structure, mimicking the extracellular matrix. Furthermore, the hydrogels were injectable, and tunable mechanical properties were obtained by changing the hydrogel concentration. The composite hydrogels allowed the sustained release of curcumin which was controlled by the change in the hydrogel concentration. Finally, the hydrogels supported MC3T3-E1 preosteoblasts viability and calcium deposition. The synergy between the sulfated polysaccharide, with its unique bioactivities, and FmocFF peptide, with its structural and mechanical properties, bears a promising potential for developing novel tunable scaffolds for tissue engineering that may allow cell differentiation into various lineages.
KW - biomaterials
KW - hydrogels
KW - sulfated polysaccharides
KW - tissue engineering
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85132258846&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3390/biomedicines10061388
DO - 10.3390/biomedicines10061388
M3 - Article
C2 - 35740409
AN - SCOPUS:85132258846
SN - 2227-9059
VL - 10
JO - Biomedicines
JF - Biomedicines
IS - 6
M1 - 1388
ER -