The Characterization of Fish (Tilapia) Collagen Sponge as a Biomaterial

Abstract

For scaffold manufacturing, the utility of bioactive natural organic materials derived from marine products is useful and indispensable as an alternative to bovine collagen. The weakest feature of fish collagen for scaffold application is its low degeneration temperature (<mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M1"><mml:mrow><mml:msub><mml:mrow><mml:mi>T</mml:mi></mml:mrow><mml:mrow><mml:mtext>d</mml:mtext></mml:mrow></mml:msub></mml:mrow></mml:math>), indicating poor stability of fish collagen in mammals in vivo . We have focused on the tropical fish tilapia as a candidate for generating a clinical scaffold. The aim of this study was to confirm the<mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M2"><mml:mrow><mml:msub><mml:mrow><mml:mi>T</mml:mi></mml:mrow><mml:mrow><mml:mtext>d</mml:mtext></mml:mrow></mml:msub></mml:mrow></mml:math>of tilapia type I atelocollagen (TAC) for biomedical application. Furthermore, the physical and structural properties were investigated and evaluated as a scaffold on a sponge form. Different concentrations {0.5%, 1.0%, and 2.0% (v/v)} of TAC solution were analyzed. Differential scanning calorimetry showed that the<mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M3"><mml:mrow><mml:msub><mml:mrow><mml:mi>T</mml:mi></mml:mrow><mml:mrow><mml:mtext>d</mml:mtext></mml:mrow></mml:msub></mml:mrow></mml:math>of TAC was 35-36°C. The scanning electron microscopy results indicated that the pore size (90–160 μ m) of TAC sponges is acceptable for cell proliferation. The tensile strength of porous sponges was in the range of 0.01–0.07 MPa. These findings indicate that the TAC sponge prepared from tilapia is one of candidates as a scaffold. The 1.0% (v/v) concentration of TAC solution is especially recommended to be advantageous for preparing and handling the solution and for sponge formation.