2023 Data (Information)

Data for Plant-derived Zein as an Alternative to Animal-derived Gelatin for Use as a Tissue Engineering Scaffold

Arinzeh, Treena

Data for select figures in the publication entitled "Plant-derived Zein as an Alternative to Animal-derived Gelatin for Use as a Tissue Engineering Scaffold" Authors: Apurva Limaye1,2, Venkatesan Perumal1 Courtney M. Karner3, Treena Livingston Arinzeh2*
1Department of Biomedical Engineering New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, NJ 0710, 2Department of Biomedical Engineering Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, 3Department of Internal Medicine, Charles and Jane Pak Center for Mineral Metabolism and Clinical Research, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75390.

Abstract from publication: Natural biomaterials are commonly used as tissue engineering scaffolds due to their biocompatibility and biodegradability. Plant-derived materials have also gained significant interest due to their abundance and as a sustainable resource. The following studies evaluated the corn-derived protein zein as a plant-derived substitute for animal-derived gelatin, which is widely used for its favorable cell adhesion properties. Limited studies exist evaluating pure zein for tissue engineering. In this study, fibrous zein scaffolds were evaluated in vitro for cell adhesion, growth, and infiltration into the scaffold in comparison to gelatin scaffolds and were further studied in a subcutaneous model in vivo. Human mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) on zein scaffolds expressed focal adhesion kinase (FAK) and integrins such as αvβ3, α4 and β1 similar to gelatin scaffolds. MSCs also infiltrated zein scaffolds with a greater penetration depth than cells on gelatin scaffolds. Cells loaded onto zein scaffolds in vivo showed higher cell proliferation and CD31 expression, as an indicator of blood vessel formation. Findings also demonstrated the capability of zein scaffolds to maintain the multipotent capability of MSCs. Overall, findings demonstrate plant-derived zein may be a suitable alternative to the animal-derived gelatin and demonstrates zein’s potential as a scaffold for tissue engineering.

This file contains the data for Table 1, Figures 3a-d, 4a&b, 5a-e, 7a, 8a&c, S1.

Keywords: electrospinning, gelatin, mesenchymal stem cells, tissue engineering, zein