From flab to fab: transforming surgical waste into an effective bioactive coating material

Cellular events are regulated by the interaction between integrin receptors in the cell membrane and the extracellular matrix (ECM). Hence, ECM, as a material, can potentially play an instructive role in cell-material interactions. Currently, adipose tissue in the form of lipoaspirate is often discarded. Here, it is demonstrated how our chemical-free decellularization method could be used to obtain ECM from human lipoaspirate waste material. These investigations show that the main biological components are retained in the lipoaspirate-derived ECM (LpECM) material and that this LpECM material could subsequently be used as a coating material to confer bioactivity to an otherwise inert biodegradable material (i.e., polycaprolactone). Overall, lipoaspirate material, a complex blend of endogenous proteins, is effectively used a bioactive coating material. This work is an important stepping-stone towards the development of biohybrid scaffolds that contain cellular benefits without requiring the use of additional biologics based on commonly discarded lipoaspirate material.