Plant-derived proteins in tissue engineering

Skin is the largest organ of the body with many essential functions that would help the survival. Damages to this barrier lead to loss of water and protein, and bacterial invasion to the underlying tissue. Hence, a quick regeneration or repair after an injury is necessary. Use of allogeneic or xenogeneic scaffolds made from animal sources present risks of host rejection and disease transfer and synthetic alternatives may lack the biological cues of natural matrix components, or do not match their mechanical properties and are often not biodegradable. Because of these challenges, plant proteins may offer advantages over other materials as a base material for tissue-engineering scaffolds. Polymers from renewable resources are attractive for various industrial and biomedical applications owing to their compatibility, degradability, ease of use and availability. As a potential alternative to currently available skin substitutes and wound dressings we can use bioactive scaffolds made of plant‐derived proteins such as Soy protein and corn Zein. Various studies showing these scaffolds can be made into fibers, films and other types of structures with good mechanical properties and support the adhesion and proliferation of human dermal fibroblasts and other cells in culture. Soy protein and Zein can be electrospun without any cross-linkers into a stable tissue scaffold that has mechanical properties similar to those of human skin and promote re-epithelialization and a more natural tissue like healing. So, plant proteins as a novel material category can be used in regenerative medicine and tissue engineering particularly in skin regeneration strategies.

کلیدواژه ها:

Plant protein ، Scaffold ، Skin ، Tissue engineering