title: Heat- and pH-induced BSA conformational changes, hydrogel formation and application as 3D cell scaffold.
abstract: Aggregation and gelation of globular proteins can be an advantage to generate new forms of nanoscale biomaterials based on the fibrillar architecture. Here, we report results obtained by exploiting the proteins' natural tendency to self-organize in 3D network, for the production of new material based on BSA for medical application. In particular, at five different pH values the conformational and structural changes of the BSA during all the steps of the thermal aggregation and gelation have been analyzed by FTIR spectroscopy. The macroscopic mechanical properties of these hydrogels have been obtained by rheological measurements. The microscopic structure of the gels have been studied by AFM and SEM images to have a picture of their different spatial arrangement. Finally, the use of the BSA hydrogels as scaffold has been tested in two different cell cultures.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Fisica e Chimica, Università di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, Building 18, 90100, Palermo, Italy. Electronic address: giovanna.navarra@unipa.it.
authors.forename: Giovanna
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Navarra
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Fisica e Chimica, Università di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, Building 18, 90100, Palermo, Italy. Electronic address: chiara.peres85@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Chiara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Peres
authors.affiliation: Istituto di Biofisica, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Via U. La Malfa 153, 90100, Palermo, Italy. Electronic address: marco.contardi@iit.it.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Contardi
authors.affiliation: Istituto di Biomedicina e Immunologia Molecolare, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Via U. La Malfa 153, 90100, Palermo, Italy. Electronic address: pasquale.picone@ibim.cnr.it.
authors.forename: Pasquale
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Picone
authors.affiliation: Istituto di Biofisica, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Via U. La Malfa 153, 90100, Palermo, Italy. Electronic address: pierluigi.sanbiagio@cnr.it.
authors.forename: Pier Luigi
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: San Biagio
authors.affiliation: Istituto di Biomedicina e Immunologia Molecolare, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Via U. La Malfa 153, 90100, Palermo, Italy. Electronic address: di-carlo@ibim.cnr.it.
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Di Carlo
authors.affiliation: Istituto di Biofisica, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Via U. La Malfa 153, 90100, Palermo, Italy. Electronic address: daniela.giacomazza@cnr.it.
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Giacomazza
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Fisica e Chimica, Università di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, Building 18, 90100, Palermo, Italy. Electronic address: valeria.militello@unipa.it.
authors.forename: Valeria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Militello
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000737:chemistry; D002417:Cattle; D002470:Cell Survival; D006358:Hot Temperature; D020100:Hydrogels / Q000737:chemistry; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D051379:Mice; D018625:Microscopy, Atomic Force; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D049329:Nanostructures / Q000737:chemistry; D011487:Protein Conformation; D012212:Rheology / Q000379:methods; D012710:Serum Albumin, Bovine / Q000737:chemistry*; D017550:Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared; D013314:Stress, Mechanical; D054457:Tissue Scaffolds / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D020100:Hydrogels; D012710:Serum Albumin, Bovine
keywords: BSA; Cell-scaffold; FTIR; Hydrogels; Mechanical spectra; β-aggregates