title: Production, characterization and biocompatibility of marine collagen matrices from an alternative and sustainable source: the sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus.
abstract: Collagen has become a key-molecule in cell culture studies and in the tissue engineering field. Industrially, the principal sources of collagen are calf skin and bones which, however, could be associated to risks of serious disease transmission. In fact, collagen derived from alternative and riskless sources is required, and marine organisms are among the safest and recently exploited ones. Sea urchins possess a circular area of soft tissue surrounding the mouth, the peristomial membrane (PM), mainly composed by mammalian-like collagen. The PM of the edible sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus therefore represents a potential unexploited collagen source, easily obtainable as a food industry waste product. Our results demonstrate that it is possible to extract native collagen fibrils from the PM and produce suitable substrates for in vitro system. The obtained matrices appear as a homogeneous fibrillar network (mean fibril diameter 30-400 nm and mesh < 2 μm) and display remarkable mechanical properties in term of stiffness (146 ± 48 MPa) and viscosity (60.98 ± 52.07 GPa·s). In vitro tests with horse pbMSC show a good biocompatibility in terms of overall cell growth. The obtained results indicate that the sea urchin P. lividus can be a valuable low-cost collagen source for mechanically resistant biomedical devices.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biosciences, University of Milan, Via Celoria 26, 20133 Milan, Italy. cristiano.dibenedetto@unimi.it.
authors.forename: Cristiano Di
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Benedetto
authors.affiliation: Department of Biosciences, University of Milan, Via Celoria 26, 20133 Milan, Italy. alice.barbaglio@unimi.it.
authors.forename: Alice
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Barbaglio
authors.affiliation: Department of Comparative Biomedicine and Food Science, University of Padova, Agripolis Viale dell'Università 16, 35020 Legnaro (PD), Italy. tiziana.martinello@unipd.it.
authors.forename: Tiziana
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Martinello
authors.affiliation: Department of Biosciences, University of Milan, Via Celoria 26, 20133 Milan, Italy. valentina_alongi88@libero.it.
authors.forename: Valentina
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Alongi
authors.affiliation: Department of Biosciences, University of Milan, Via Celoria 26, 20133 Milan, Italy. dario.fassini@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Dario
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Fassini
authors.affiliation: Department of Biosciences, University of Milan, Via Celoria 26, 20133 Milan, Italy. emanuele.cullora@tiscali.it.
authors.forename: Emanuele
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Cullorà
authors.affiliation: Department of Comparative Biomedicine and Food Science, University of Padova, Agripolis Viale dell'Università 16, 35020 Legnaro (PD), Italy. marco.pat@unipd.it.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Patruno
authors.affiliation: Department of Biosciences, University of Milan, Via Celoria 26, 20133 Milan, Italy. francesco.bonasoro@unimi.it.
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bonasoro
authors.affiliation: INEB-Institute of Biomedical Engineering, University of Porto, Rua do Campo Alegre, 823, 4150-180 Porto, Portugal. mbarbosa@ineb.up.pt.
authors.forename: Mario Adolfo
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Barbosa
authors.affiliation: Department of Biosciences, University of Milan, Via Celoria 26, 20133 Milan, Italy. daniela.candia@unimi.it.
authors.forename: Maria Daniela Candia
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Carnevali
authors.affiliation: Department of Biosciences, University of Milan, Via Celoria 26, 20133 Milan, Italy. michela.sugni@unimi.it.
authors.forename: Michela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sugni
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000737:chemistry*; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D002417:Cattle; D002452:Cell Count; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D003094:Collagen / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D006801:Humans; D007202:Indicators and Reagents; D008422:Materials Testing; D008623:Mercaptoethanol / Q000737:chemistry; D059630:Mesenchymal Stem Cells / Q000187:drug effects; D047328:Paracentrotus / Q000737:chemistry*; D051381:Rats; D013552:Swine; D013718:Tensile Strength; D014783:Viscosity
chemical_list: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D007202:Indicators and Reagents; D008623:Mercaptoethanol; D003094:Collagen