A honeycomb composite of mollusca shell matrix and calcium alginate

Abstract

A honeycomb composite is useful to carry cells for application in bone, cartilage, skin, and soft tissue regenerative therapies. To fabricate a composite, and expand the application of mollusca shells as well as improve preparing methods of calcium alginate in tissue engineering research, Anodonta woodiana shell powder was mixed with sodium alginate at varying mass ratios to obtain a gel mixture. The mixture was frozen and treated with dilute hydrochloric acid to generate a shell matrix/calcium alginate composite. Calcium carbonate served as the control. The composite was transplanted subcutaneously into rats. At 7, 14, 42, and 70 days after transplantation, frozen sections were stained with hematoxylin and eosin, followed by DAPI, β-actin, and collagen type-I immunofluorescence staining, and observed using laser confocal microscopy. The composite featured a honeycomb structure. The control and composite samples displayed significantly different mechanical properties. The water absorption rate of the composite and control group were respectively 205-496% and 417-586%. The composite (mass ratio of 5:5) showed good biological safety over a 70-day period; the subcutaneous structure of the samples was maintained and the degradation rate was lower than that of the control samples. Freezing the gel mixture afforded control over chemical reaction rates. Given these results, the composite is a promising honeycomb scaffold for tissue engineering.

Mineralized alginate hydrogels using marine carbonates for bone tissue engineering applications

“…This effect was not observed for neither Alginate 127 nor Alginate 155. They could form a less compact hydrogel network in which the incorporation of ceramic particles would improve the mechanical properties of the hydrogel as reported previously for similar systems(You, Li, Zhou, Liu, & Zhang, 2016).All the hydrogels were characterized by high values of cell viability as expected for biocompatible materials. The presence of calcium carbonate on the hydrogel network did not increase cell death.…”

Enzymatic Degradation of Polylactic Acid Fibers Supported on a Hydrogel for Sustained Release of Lactate

“…Figure a shows cross-sectional SEM images of the L/K(26)/Alg hydrogel. Despite the loaded lactate and enzyme, the typical pores observed for Alg hydrogel networks , are observed after lyophilization. The cross-sectional micrographs of Alg, L/Alg, and K(26)/Alg specimens, which are shown in Figure S1, displayed a similar porous-like structure, which indicates that both the lactate and proteinase K do not affect the hydrogel and are uniformly distributed within.…”

Polysaccharides as Composite Biomaterials

“…A unique honeycomb composite of mollusca shell matrix and calcium alginate was fabricated to carry cells for soft tissue, skin, bone, and cartilage tissue regenerative therapies [29]. The composite was produced by frozen and treated mixture of Anodonta woodiana shell powder and sodium alginate with hydrochloric acid.…”