Marine Collagen/Apatite Composite Scaffolds Envisaging Hard Tissue Applications
Gabriela S. Diogo,
Estefania L. López-Senra,
Rogério P. Pirraco,
Raphael F. Canadas,
Emanuel M. Fernandes,
Julia Serra,
Ricardo I. Pérez-Martín,
Carmen G. Sotelo,
Alexandra P. Marques,
Pio González,
Joana Moreira-Silva,
Tiago H. Silva,
Rui L. Reis
Affiliations
Gabriela S. Diogo
3B’s Research Group—Biomaterials, Biodegradables and Biomimetics, University of Minho, Headquarters of the European Institute of Excellence on Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, AvePark, Parque de Ciência e Tecnologia, 4805-017 Barco, Guimarães, Portugal
Estefania L. López-Senra
New Materials Group, Department of Applied Physics, Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Galicia Sur IISGS, University of Vigo, Campus Lagoas-Marcosende, 36310 Vigo, Spain
Rogério P. Pirraco
3B’s Research Group—Biomaterials, Biodegradables and Biomimetics, University of Minho, Headquarters of the European Institute of Excellence on Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, AvePark, Parque de Ciência e Tecnologia, 4805-017 Barco, Guimarães, Portugal
Raphael F. Canadas
3B’s Research Group—Biomaterials, Biodegradables and Biomimetics, University of Minho, Headquarters of the European Institute of Excellence on Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, AvePark, Parque de Ciência e Tecnologia, 4805-017 Barco, Guimarães, Portugal
Emanuel M. Fernandes
3B’s Research Group—Biomaterials, Biodegradables and Biomimetics, University of Minho, Headquarters of the European Institute of Excellence on Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, AvePark, Parque de Ciência e Tecnologia, 4805-017 Barco, Guimarães, Portugal
Julia Serra
New Materials Group, Department of Applied Physics, Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Galicia Sur IISGS, University of Vigo, Campus Lagoas-Marcosende, 36310 Vigo, Spain
Ricardo I. Pérez-Martín
Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas (CSIC), Eduardo Cabello 6, 36208 Vigo, Spain
Carmen G. Sotelo
Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas (CSIC), Eduardo Cabello 6, 36208 Vigo, Spain
Alexandra P. Marques
3B’s Research Group—Biomaterials, Biodegradables and Biomimetics, University of Minho, Headquarters of the European Institute of Excellence on Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, AvePark, Parque de Ciência e Tecnologia, 4805-017 Barco, Guimarães, Portugal
Pio González
New Materials Group, Department of Applied Physics, Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Galicia Sur IISGS, University of Vigo, Campus Lagoas-Marcosende, 36310 Vigo, Spain
Joana Moreira-Silva
3B’s Research Group—Biomaterials, Biodegradables and Biomimetics, University of Minho, Headquarters of the European Institute of Excellence on Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, AvePark, Parque de Ciência e Tecnologia, 4805-017 Barco, Guimarães, Portugal
Tiago H. Silva
3B’s Research Group—Biomaterials, Biodegradables and Biomimetics, University of Minho, Headquarters of the European Institute of Excellence on Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, AvePark, Parque de Ciência e Tecnologia, 4805-017 Barco, Guimarães, Portugal
Rui L. Reis
3B’s Research Group—Biomaterials, Biodegradables and Biomimetics, University of Minho, Headquarters of the European Institute of Excellence on Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, AvePark, Parque de Ciência e Tecnologia, 4805-017 Barco, Guimarães, Portugal
The high prevalence of bone defects has become a worldwide problem. Despite the significant amount of research on the subject, the available therapeutic solutions lack efficiency. Autografts, the most commonly used approaches to treat bone defects, have limitations such as donor site morbidity, pain and lack of donor site. Marine resources emerge as an attractive alternative to extract bioactive compounds for further use in bone tissue-engineering approaches. On one hand they can be isolated from by-products, at low cost, creating value from products that are considered waste for the fish transformation industry. One the other hand, religious constraints will be avoided. We isolated two marine origin materials, collagen from shark skin (Prionace glauca) and calcium phosphates from the teeth of two different shark species (Prionace glauca and Isurus oxyrinchus), and further proposed to mix them to produce 3D composite structures for hard tissue applications. Two crosslinking agents, 1-[3-(dimethylamino)propyl]-3-ethylcarbodiimide hydrochloride/N-Hydroxysuccinimide (EDC/NHS) and hexamethylene diisocyanate (HMDI), were tested to enhance the scaffolds’ properties, with EDC/NHS resulting in better properties. The characterization of the structures showed that the developed composites could support attachment and proliferation of osteoblast-like cells. A promising scaffold for the engineering of bone tissue is thus proposed, based on a strategy of marine by-products valorisation.