Varying fish scale derived hydroxyapatite bound hybrid peptide nanofiber scaffolds for potential applications in periodontal tissue regeneration

New peptide based hybrid scaffolds were prepared by blending two different fish scale derived hydroxyapatite with functionalized peptide nanofibers for potential applications in periodontal tissue regeneration. The nanofibers were prepared by self-assembly of the newly designed peptide bolaamphiphile Bis (N-alpha-amido-glutamic acid) 1,7 heptane tetracarboxylate and functionalized with a segment of the tyrosine rich amylogenin peptide sequence MPLPPHPGHPGYINF followed by polygalacturnonic acid and hydroxyapatite derived from salmon or red-snapper fish scales. The binding interactions of the components of the scaffold was confirmed by FTIR spectroscopy as well as SEM imaging. Hybrids scaffolds with salmon scale derived HaP showed higher mechanical strength and Young's Modulus compared to snapper scale derived scaffolds. Our results indicated that while both the scaffolds supported cell proliferation and efficiently formed cell-scaffold matrices with gingival fibroblasts, we observed greater alignment of the cells in the case of scaffolds that contained snapper scale derived hydroxyapatite. Furthermore, higher differentiation ability into osteoblast like cells was seen in the case of the snapper scale derived HaP based scaffolds. Our studies indicate that the hybrid peptide nanofiber scaffold matrices, particularly those prepared using snapper scales may have significant utility in the development of biomaterials for periodontal tissue regeneration.