Enhanced cell adhesion on silk fibroin via lectin surface modification

Area of Science:

• Biomaterials Science
• Tissue Engineering
• Cell Biology

Background:

• Silk fibroin (SF) is a promising scaffold material for tissue engineering due to its excellent properties.
• Current one-step tissue engineering approaches face challenges with prolonged cell seeding times before clinical application.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the covalent binding of wheat germ agglutinin (WGA) to SF to enhance cell adhesion.
• To evaluate WGA-SF scaffolds for rapid cell attachment suitable for one-step surgical interventions.

Main Methods:

• Carbodiimide chemistry was used to covalently bind WGA to SF scaffolds.
• Adipose-derived stromal cells (ASCs) attachment to WGA-SF and native SF was quantified.
• Cell adhesion resistance to trypsin and shear stress was assessed.
• ASC proliferation, osteogenic differentiation, and peripheral blood mononuclear cell proliferation were evaluated.

Main Results:

• WGA modification of SF increased ASC attachment by approximately 17-fold within 20 minutes compared to native SF.
• WGA-SF scaffolds demonstrated enhanced cell adhesion resistance to protease and mechanical stress.
• ASC adhesion to WGA-SF did not impede proliferation or osteogenic differentiation.
• In vitro immune response assays showed no adverse effects from WGA-SF.

Conclusions:

• WGA modification of SF significantly improves cell adhesion kinetics and stability.
• WGA-SF scaffolds show potential for clinical translation in one-step tissue engineering applications.
• This approach offers a viable solution to overcome cell seeding limitations in current tissue engineering strategies.