415
© Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2015
H. Ehrlich, Biological Materials of Marine Origin, Biologically- Inspired Systems 4,
DOI 10.1007/978-94-007-5730-1_13
Chapter 13
Marine Structural Proteins in Biomedicine
and Tissue Engineering
Abstract Marine biopolymers like collagens, gelatins, keratins (keratin-like proteins),
and elastins (elastin-like proteins) have been investigated during the last decade as
potentially approvable, manufacturable, highly reproducible, approvable, and
affordable biological materials. The development of biocompatible composites and
vehicles of marine biopolymer origin for growth, retention, delivery, and differentiation of stem cells is of crucial importance for regenerative medicine.
All the marine structural proteins discussed have above possess high biomimetic
potential. They either directly meet current challenges in many applied fi elds; or
may be used as a source of bioinspiration for designing biomimetic materials and
composites with hierarchical structure and appropriative mechanical properties.
The application of new biomaterial technologies based on marine biopolymers
offers the potential to direct the stem cell fate, targeting the delivery of cells and
reducing immune rejection, thereby supporting the development of regenerative
medicine (Armentano et al. 2013 ). The fi rst goal is to develop porous biodegradable
composite scaffolds, which can be designed with initial properties that reproduce
the tension-compression nonlinearity, viscoelasticity and anisotropy of different tissues by introducing specifi c nanostructures. The second goal is more complex, as it
deals with development of artifi cial organs. However, the fi rst attempts have been
carried out. Recently, dense and porous synthetic scaffolds were used as template
for fi sh cells line, which, being attached, can proliferate and express fi sh skin components. This biomimetic approach has been used for development of a biosynthetic
fi sh skin in vitro with future application in aquatic robots that can emulate living fi sh
(Pouliot et al. 2004 ).
As reported above, marine collagens of vertebrate origin as well as gelatins as
their derivatives are the most popular biological materials. These can be used as
alternative to terrestrial mammal’s collagens especially in tissue engineering.
According to Glowacki and Mizuno ( 2008 ), “there are two major approaches to
tissue engineering for regeneration of tissues and organs. One involves cell-free
materials and/or factors and one involves delivering cells to contribute to the regeneration process. Of the many scaffold materials being investigated, collagen type I,
with selective removal of its telopeptides, has been shown to have many advantageous features for both of these approaches,” (Glowacki and Mizuno 2008 ).
© Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2015
H. Ehrlich, Biological Materials of Marine Origin, Biologically- Inspired Systems 4,
DOI 10.1007/978-94-007-5730-1_13
Chapter 13
Marine Structural Proteins in Biomedicine
and Tissue Engineering
Abstract Marine biopolymers like collagens, gelatins, keratins (keratin-like proteins),
and elastins (elastin-like proteins) have been investigated during the last decade as
potentially approvable, manufacturable, highly reproducible, approvable, and
affordable biological materials. The development of biocompatible composites and
vehicles of marine biopolymer origin for growth, retention, delivery, and differentiation of stem cells is of crucial importance for regenerative medicine.
All the marine structural proteins discussed have above possess high biomimetic
potential. They either directly meet current challenges in many applied fi elds; or
may be used as a source of bioinspiration for designing biomimetic materials and
composites with hierarchical structure and appropriative mechanical properties.
The application of new biomaterial technologies based on marine biopolymers
offers the potential to direct the stem cell fate, targeting the delivery of cells and
reducing immune rejection, thereby supporting the development of regenerative
medicine (Armentano et al. 2013 ). The fi rst goal is to develop porous biodegradable
composite scaffolds, which can be designed with initial properties that reproduce
the tension-compression nonlinearity, viscoelasticity and anisotropy of different tissues by introducing specifi c nanostructures. The second goal is more complex, as it
deals with development of artifi cial organs. However, the fi rst attempts have been
carried out. Recently, dense and porous synthetic scaffolds were used as template
for fi sh cells line, which, being attached, can proliferate and express fi sh skin components. This biomimetic approach has been used for development of a biosynthetic
fi sh skin in vitro with future application in aquatic robots that can emulate living fi sh
(Pouliot et al. 2004 ).
As reported above, marine collagens of vertebrate origin as well as gelatins as
their derivatives are the most popular biological materials. These can be used as
alternative to terrestrial mammal’s collagens especially in tissue engineering.
According to Glowacki and Mizuno ( 2008 ), “there are two major approaches to
tissue engineering for regeneration of tissues and organs. One involves cell-free
materials and/or factors and one involves delivering cells to contribute to the regeneration process. Of the many scaffold materials being investigated, collagen type I,
with selective removal of its telopeptides, has been shown to have many advantageous features for both of these approaches,” (Glowacki and Mizuno 2008 ).