Green seaweeds ulvan-cellulose scaffolds enhance in vitro cell growth and in vivo angiogenesis for skin tissue engineering

Cellulose has been extracted from a wide range of land resources, whereas it has been scarcely exploited from marine resources. Cellulose from green seaweeds can be extracted together with smaller molecules called ulvans. We have successfully extracted and characterized cellulose from Ulva sp. Solid state C-13 NMR indicated the presence of ulvans in the cellulose extracts. The extracted cellulose was blended with polylactide and polydioxanone and electmspun into nanofibrous mats with a range of physico-chemical properties. These cellulosebased scaffolds were assessed in vitro using fibroblast cells and showed accelerated cell growth. In vivo biocompatibility studies using a Wistar rat model indicated the absence of foreign body response and enhanced angiogenesis.

Automated summary

Cellulose has been successfully extracted from green seaweeds and blended with polylactide and polydioxanone to form nanofibrous mats with diverse physico-chemical properties. These cellulose-based scaffolds demonstrated accelerated cell growth when assessed in vitro with fibroblast cells. In vivo biocompatibility studies using a Wistar rat model showed lack of foreign body response and enhanced angiogenesis.