Isolation and purification of fucoidan from Sargassum ilicifolium: Osteogenic differentiation potential in mesenchymal stem cells for bone tissue engineering

Abstract

Naturally derived polymeric substances have recently gained much attention in tissue engineering applications due to their unique biological activities. The present work deals with fucoidan's isolation, characterizations, and osteogenic differentiation. The fucoidan has been used for several biological and biomedical applications. The research on fucoidan concerning its application mainly in osteogenic differentiation is scanty. Thus, the study examines the osteogenic differentiation property of purified fucoidan from Sargassum ilicifolium. The isolation of fucoidan was performed by using probe-sonication combined with microwave extraction and hot water extraction methods. The probe sonication-microwave procedure provides a 1.5X higher yield than the hot water extraction method. The probe sonication-microwave derived crude fucoidan was further purified with DEAE-Cellulose anion-exchange chromatography. The structural characterization of purified fucoidan was carried out by UV–Visible spectroscopy, X-Ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, Thermogravimetric analysis, and 1HNMR analysis. In addition, the osteogenic differentiation ability was studied by performing cell proliferation, alkaline phosphatase activity, mineralization, and expression of osteoblast markers with murine mesenchymal stem cells (C3H10T1/2). The findings of the structural study confirm the presence of sulfates and hydroxyl groups in the isolated fucoidan. The 1HNMR results confirm the occurrence of fucose residues. The in vitro study results demonstrate that the purified fucoidan significantly scavenges the formation of free radicles and induces the alkaline phosphatase activity, mineralization, and the expression of osteoblast-specific genes. The findings indicate that the fucoidan from Sargassum ilicifolium can be a potential biomaterial for bone regeneration.