Antibacterial activity and biocompatibility of zein scaffolds containing silver-doped bioactive glass.

Composite 3D scaffolds combining natural polymers and bioceramics are promising candidates for bone tissue engineering (BTE). Zein, as a natural plant protein, offers several advantages, including biocompatibility, adequate strength properties, and low/no immunogenicity; however, it lacks bioactivity. Thus, composite zein: bioactive glass (BG) scaffolds are proposed as promising candidate for BTE applications, with silver-doping of bioactive glass providing an antibacterial effect against possible post-implantation infection. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the in vitro antibacterial properties, biocompatibility, bioactivity and compressive strength of zein scaffolds containing silver-doped bioactive glass. BG nanoparticles, undoped and Ag-doped, were fabricated using the sol-gel method. 3D composite zein:BG scaffolds, containing 20 wt% BG, were prepared and their antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) was assessed using the disc diffusion assay. Human osteoblast-like MG-63 cells were used to evaluate the in vitro biocompatibility of the prepared scaffold groups. In addition, the compressive strength of the scaffolds was determined using uniaxial compression strength testing and the scaffold interconnected porosity was measured using helium pycnometer. Disc diffusion assay showed that only zein scaffolds containing Ag-doped sol-gel BG are antibacterially positive against E. coli and S. aureus. Pure zein scaffolds and zein scaffolds containing sol-gel-derived BG showed no negative influence on the growth of MG-63 cells, as evident by the cells' ability to survive, proliferate, and function on these scaffolds. Moreover, incorporating sol-gel-derived BG into zein scaffolds at zein:BG of 80:20 ratio showed bioactive properties with adequate porosity without affecting the scaffolds' compressive strengths, which was similar to that of trabecular bone, suggesting that the new composites have potential for BTE applications in non-loaded bearing areas.

Chemical and biological evaluation of Egyptian Nile Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticas) fish scale collagen.

Collagen is considered to be one of the most useful biomaterials with different medical applications. However, collagen properties differ from one source to another. The aim of this study was to extract, purify, characterize and perform preliminary biological evaluation of type I collagen from scales of Egyptian Nile Tilapia. Pepsin-solubilized collagen (PSC) was successfully prepared from Nile Tilapia fish scale waste. Lyophilized collagen was dissolved in dilute HCl to form acidic collagen solutions (ACS) which was neutralized to form gel. To confirm the biocompatibility of the produced gel, baby hamster kidney (BHK-21) fibroblast cells were seeded onto a 3D collagen gel (0.3% and 0.5%, w/v). The results of an SDS-PAGE test showed that the extracted collagens were type I collagen, with α chain composition of (α1)2α2. Thermal analysis showed that the denaturation temperature was 32 °C. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis and Fourier-transform infrared spectra (FTIR) showed that the extracted collagen had a triple helix structure. Active proliferation of BHK-21 cells with no signs of toxicity was evident with both collagen gel concentrations tested. The results show that Nile Tilapia scales can be an effective source of collagen extraction that could be used as a potential biomaterial in biomedical applications.