Bioinspiring Chondrosia reniformis (Nardo, 1847) Collagen-Based Hydrogel: A New Extraction Method to Obtain a Sticky and Self-Healing Collagenous Material.

Dario Fassini,Ana Rita Duarte,Rui Reis,Tiago Silva

doi:10.3390/md15120380

Dario Fassini, Ana Rita Duarte + Show 2 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/md15120380

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Journal: Marine Drugs	Publication Date: Dec 4, 2017
Citations: 25	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: University of Minho

Abstract

Collagen is a natural and abundant polymer that serves multiple functions in both invertebrates and vertebrates. As collagen is the natural scaffolding for cells, collagen-based hydrogels are regarded as ideal materials for tissue engineering applications since they can mimic the natural cellular microenvironment. Chondrosia reniformis is a marine demosponge particularly rich in collagen, characterized by the presence of labile interfibrillar crosslinks similarly to those described in the mutable collagenous tissues (MCTs) of echinoderms. As a result single fibrils can be isolated using calcium-chelating and disulphide-reducing chemicals. In the present work we firstly describe a new extraction method that directly produces a highly hydrated hydrogel with interesting self-healing properties. The materials obtained were then biochemically and rheologically characterized. Our investigation has shown that the developed extraction procedure is able to extract collagen as well as other proteins and Glycosaminoglycans (GAG)-like molecules that give the collagenous hydrogel interesting and new rheological properties when compared to other described collagenous materials. The present work motivates further in-depth investigations towards the development of a new class of injectable collagenous hydrogels with tailored specifications.

Highlights

IntroductionCollagen is the most abundant protein of the extra cellular matrix and can be found in all Phyla [1]with the remarkable exception of Placozoa [2] and Rotifera [3]
Collagen is the most abundant protein of the extra cellular matrix and can be found in all Phyla [1]with the remarkable exception of Placozoa [2] and Rotifera [3]
In comparison with the method described by Fassini et al [37] and referred as the reference procedure, a pre-treatment step in phosphate buffer saline/ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (PBS/EDTA) followed by a significantly longer period of incubation in disaggregating solution (DS) was necessary to directly obtain the collagenous hydrogels (Scheme 1)

Summary

Introduction

Collagen is the most abundant protein of the extra cellular matrix and can be found in all Phyla [1]with the remarkable exception of Placozoa [2] and Rotifera [3]. Collagen is the natural cell scaffolding and has several domains that bind proteoglycans [4,5], growth factors [6] and other cell signalling molecules [7,8] In this view, it is regarded as an ideal material for many applications dealing with human health and wellbeing, including regenerative medicine [9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16]. Collagens sources are still mainly derived by mammals (bovine and porcine), scientists and entrepreneurs are being challenged by specific concerns regarding zoonosis, potential immunogenic reactions [14,15] as well as ethical and religious concerns [17]. For those reasons marine organisms in the last years have gained much popularity as potential alternative source of safer and more acceptable source of collagen [17].

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