Abstract
Natural porous scaffolds have been studied and developed for decades in biomedical science in order to support cells with a simulated extracellular matrix in natural tissue as an ideal environment. Such three-dimensional scaffolds provide many degrees of freedom to modulate cell activity, such as porosity, pore size, mechanical strength, biodegradability, and biocompatibility. In this study, a porous, three-dimensional material of alginate incorporating tapioca starch was fabricated. A particular freeze-gelation method was applied to homogenously mix starch in the alginate, and the concentration was controllable. This pure natural composite porous scaffold was characterized physically and biologically. The synergistic functions, including biocompatibility, biodegradability, cell adhesion, and cell proliferation, were also investigated. A myogenic differentiation model further verified that the composite porous scaffold provided a suitable environment, supporting the differentiation effect in the myogenic process. The positive results demonstrated that this novel material has the potential to serve as a biomedical or clean meat appliance.
Highlights
In previous studies of starches, Awolu et al found several functional groups presented in amylose and amylopectin such as the O–H group, the C=O aldehyde, and C–H alkanes, where the results proved that the structure of starch in these composite scaffolds remained after crosslinking procedure [61]
Results of the water immersion porosimetry (WIP) assay showed that the porosity level had an upward trend with increase of tapioca concentration in the TA scaffolds, there was no significant difference in porosity between the four scaffold experimental groups
We demonstrated that the TA scaffolds provided a supportive environment for C2C12 cells to adhere and further promote cell viability
Summary
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. [34,35] have attempted to create a microenvironment niche to favorably control the behavior of resident cells These biological scaffolds have been implanted in an attempt to improve the repair of muscle tissues in human beings. A successful biological material should be highly biocompatible, avirulence, and able to provide a supporting cell growth environment Aiming for such a material, we developed a tapioca/alginate composite scaffold. A multi-layer three-dimensional porous structure, mimicking the microenvironment architecture, was manufactured by cross-linking tapioca starch and alginate in CaCl2 /ethanol solution, followed by a freeze-gelation method, forming an ideal scaffold with high biocompatibility, biodegradability, and water retention. We demonstrated the in vitro cellular assay, revealing that the tapioca/alginate composite scaffolds are biocompatible and supporting to cell adhesion and differentiation of C2C12 myoblast. We considered the proposed tapioca/alginate composite scaffold to be a promising material with potential to be widely used in tissue engineering or food engineering
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
