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

• Main Authors: Luo, Baiwen, Yuan, Shaojun, Foo, Selin Ee Min, Wong, Marcus Thien Chong, Lim, Thiam Chye, Tan, Nguan Soon, Choong, Cleo Swee Neo
• Other Authors: School of Materials Science & Engineering
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: 2015
• Subjects: DRNTU::Science::Medicine::Biomedical engineering; DRNTU::Engineering::Materials::Biomaterials
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/107031; http://hdl.handle.net/10220/25341
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

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.