Cross-Linked Pectin Nanofibers with Enhanced Cell Adhesion

• Published in: Biomacromolecules 2018-02, Vol.19 (2), p.490-498
• Main Authors: Chen, Sainan, Cui, Sisi, Zhang, Hui, Pei, Xuejing, Hu, Junli, Zhou, Yifa, Liu, Yichun
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adipates - chemistry; Animals; Cell Adhesion - drug effects; Cell Line; Cross-Linking Reagents - chemistry; Mice; Nanofibers - chemistry; Pectins - chemistry; Pectins - pharmacology
• ISSN: 1525-7797; 1526-4602
• DOI: 10.1021/acs.biomac.7b01605

Polysaccharides display poor cell adhesion due to the lack of cell binding domains. This severely limits their applications in regenerative medicine. This study reports novel cross-linked pectin nanofibers with dramatically enhanced cell adhesion. The nanofibers are prepared by at first oxidizing pectin with periodate to generate aldehyde groups and then cross-linking the nanofibers with adipic acid dihydrazide to covalently connect pectin macromolecular chains with adipic acid dihydrazone linkers. The linkers may act as cell binding domains. Compared with traditional Ca2+-cross-linked pectin nanofibers, the pectin nanofibers with high oxidation/cross-linking degree exhibit much enhanced cell adhesion capability. Moreover, the cross-linked pectin nanofibers exhibit excellent mechanical strength (with Young’s modulus ∼10 MPa) and much enhanced body degradability (degrade completely in 3 weeks or longer time). The combination of excellent cell adhesion capability, mechanical strength, and body degradability suggests that the cross-linked pectin nanofibers are promising candidates for in vivo applications such as tissue engineering and wound healing. This cross-linking strategy may also be used to improve the cell adhesion capability of other polysaccharide materials.