Development of keratin-based fibers fabricated by interfacial polyelectrolyte complexation for suture applications

Interfacial Polyelectrolyte Complexation (IPC) is a convenient way to produce composite, micro-scale fibers. In this paper, we report the successful development of novel keratin-based IPC fibers and also demonstrate the feasibility of using these fibers as sutures through a proof-of-concept in vivo...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Foo, Laura Li-En, Logeshwari, Muthualagu Natarajan, Czarny, Bertrand, Ng, Kee Woei
Other Authors: School of Materials Science and Engineering
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: 2024
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10356/180544
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Institution: Nanyang Technological University
Language: English
id sg-ntu-dr.10356-180544
record_format dspace
spelling sg-ntu-dr.10356-1805442024-10-25T15:47:11Z Development of keratin-based fibers fabricated by interfacial polyelectrolyte complexation for suture applications Foo, Laura Li-En Logeshwari, Muthualagu Natarajan Czarny, Bertrand Ng, Kee Woei School of Materials Science and Engineering Interdisciplinary Graduate School (IGS) Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine (LKCMedicine) Skin Research Institute of Singapore Nanyang Environment and Water Research Institute Engineering Materials Biomaterials Interfacial Polyelectrolyte Complexation (IPC) is a convenient way to produce composite, micro-scale fibers. In this paper, we report the successful development of novel keratin-based IPC fibers and also demonstrate the feasibility of using these fibers as sutures through a proof-of-concept in vivo study. Two composite fibers were produced: chitosan-keratin (CK) and keratin-keratin (KK). These fibers were evaluated for their physico-chemical, mechanical and biochemical properties. In the dry state, the CK fiber had a greater Young’s modulus of about 2 GPa while the KK fiber registered a longer strain-at-break of about 100% due to the strain-stiffening effect. Notably, the keratins were found to assemble into amyloids within the composite fibers based on Congo red staining and Wide-Angle X-Ray Scattering. Functionally, both fibers were malleable could be weaved, braided and knotted. When used as sutures to close incisional wounds in mice over 21 days, these fibers were found to elicit minimal host tissue response and were partially degraded over the duration. Interestingly, the KK fiber evoked a lower extent of immune cell response and fibrous capsule encapsulation that was comparable to commercial, non-absorbable Dafilon® sutures. This work demonstrated the possibility of producing keratin-based IPC fibers which may find practicality as medical sutures. Ministry of Education (MOE) Nanyang Technological University Submitted/Accepted version This work was supported by the Ministry of Education, Singapore (AcRF Tier 1: RG7/22) and by Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Start-Up Grant through the School of Materials Science and Engineering. 2024-10-21T01:32:48Z 2024-10-21T01:32:48Z 2025 Journal Article Foo, L. L., Logeshwari, M. N., Czarny, B. & Ng, K. W. (2025). Development of keratin-based fibers fabricated by interfacial polyelectrolyte complexation for suture applications. Biomaterials, 314, 122878-. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biomaterials.2024.122878 0142-9612 https://hdl.handle.net/10356/180544 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2024.122878 314 122878 en RG7/22 NTU-SUG Biomaterials © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights are reserved. This article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the copyright holder. The Version of Record is available online at http://doi.org/10.1016/j.biomaterials.2024.122878. application/pdf
institution Nanyang Technological University
building NTU Library
continent Asia
country Singapore
Singapore
content_provider NTU Library
collection DR-NTU
language English
topic Engineering
Materials
Biomaterials
spellingShingle Engineering
Materials
Biomaterials
Foo, Laura Li-En
Logeshwari, Muthualagu Natarajan
Czarny, Bertrand
Ng, Kee Woei
Development of keratin-based fibers fabricated by interfacial polyelectrolyte complexation for suture applications
description Interfacial Polyelectrolyte Complexation (IPC) is a convenient way to produce composite, micro-scale fibers. In this paper, we report the successful development of novel keratin-based IPC fibers and also demonstrate the feasibility of using these fibers as sutures through a proof-of-concept in vivo study. Two composite fibers were produced: chitosan-keratin (CK) and keratin-keratin (KK). These fibers were evaluated for their physico-chemical, mechanical and biochemical properties. In the dry state, the CK fiber had a greater Young’s modulus of about 2 GPa while the KK fiber registered a longer strain-at-break of about 100% due to the strain-stiffening effect. Notably, the keratins were found to assemble into amyloids within the composite fibers based on Congo red staining and Wide-Angle X-Ray Scattering. Functionally, both fibers were malleable could be weaved, braided and knotted. When used as sutures to close incisional wounds in mice over 21 days, these fibers were found to elicit minimal host tissue response and were partially degraded over the duration. Interestingly, the KK fiber evoked a lower extent of immune cell response and fibrous capsule encapsulation that was comparable to commercial, non-absorbable Dafilon® sutures. This work demonstrated the possibility of producing keratin-based IPC fibers which may find practicality as medical sutures.
author2 School of Materials Science and Engineering
author_facet School of Materials Science and Engineering
Foo, Laura Li-En
Logeshwari, Muthualagu Natarajan
Czarny, Bertrand
Ng, Kee Woei
format Article
author Foo, Laura Li-En
Logeshwari, Muthualagu Natarajan
Czarny, Bertrand
Ng, Kee Woei
author_sort Foo, Laura Li-En
title Development of keratin-based fibers fabricated by interfacial polyelectrolyte complexation for suture applications
title_short Development of keratin-based fibers fabricated by interfacial polyelectrolyte complexation for suture applications
title_full Development of keratin-based fibers fabricated by interfacial polyelectrolyte complexation for suture applications
title_fullStr Development of keratin-based fibers fabricated by interfacial polyelectrolyte complexation for suture applications
title_full_unstemmed Development of keratin-based fibers fabricated by interfacial polyelectrolyte complexation for suture applications
title_sort development of keratin-based fibers fabricated by interfacial polyelectrolyte complexation for suture applications
publishDate 2024
url https://hdl.handle.net/10356/180544
_version_ 1814777704858255360