The albumin/starch scaffold and its biocompatibility with living cells

Abstract

Abstract Combinations of protein and carbohydrate scaffold, bovine serum albumin (BSA) and cassava starch, have been used as materials to fabricate 3D scaffolds using an in-house developed freeze-drying method. Using this method, the BSA/starch generated a stable foam-type scaffold while the BSA alone could not maintain a rigid structure. The albumin/starch scaffolds had a porous structure and indicated the secondary structures of protein in the Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) study. Small and wide-angle X-ray scattering analysis (SAXS and WAXS) data indicated that the BSA molecules were uniformly dispersed within the starch framework and thereby characterized the size of the scaffold. The alcohol treatment changed the protein structure within the scaffold from an α-helix into a random coil. Interestingly, the BSA/starch scaffold with methanol treatment had better mechanical properties than that with the ethanol treatment. Cytotoxicity analyzed using colorimetric assay of 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) with HepG2 cells showed that the cell viability for the BSA/starch scaffold under all tested conditions was greater than 90 %. Thus, all obtained materials (based on the BSA/starch scaffolds) could be used as a matrix for culturing living cells. All these results indicated that the BSA/starch scaffolds could be used for tissue formation in tissue bioengineering.