Incorporation of Se (IV) Complexes based on Amino Acids in Biomatrixes in Hydrogel State: Effect of the Amino Acid on the Structure and Properties of Biomatrixes for Biomedical Applications

Abstract

Selenium is a non-metal that shows biological interest since it is responsible for modulating various proteins at the micronutrient level in living beings. In this work, new complexes based on the Se (IV) ion with amino acids such as phenylalanine (Se-F), histidine (Se-H) and tryptophan (Se-T) were hydrothermally synthesized and characterized. These were incorporated into biomatrixes based on semi-interpenetrated polymeric networks (Semi-IPN) of collagen-polyurethane-guar gum (CPGG) by the microemulsion process using a mass ratio of 1 wt.% with respect to collagen. The structural and crystalline characteristics that the selenium-amino acid complexes show a performance in modulating the properties of the biomatrixes under study. The results indicate that the incorporation of the complex decreases the crosslinking of the hydrogel, generating granular surfaces with porosity dependent on the type of amino acid. The CPGG Se-T biomatrix shows a swelling capacity of 10200 ± 1100 higher than the CPGG base matrix; while the CPGG Se-F and CPGG Se-T biomatrixes present slow degradation at both physiological and acidic pH. Interestingly, the matrix that includes the Se-F complex significantly stimulates the metabolic activity of L929 fibroblasts for up to 48 h, stimulating their proliferation. The fibroblasts encapsulated on these novel biomatrixes show recurrent release capacity for up to 7 days, where the structure of the CPGG Se-H biomatrix exhibits greater release from the encapsulated cells. These results demonstrate that these innovative biomatrixes could be used in biomedical applications such as dermal tissue regeneration and cell release for a specific biological fate.