Fucoidan-based Microparticles for Biomedical Applications.

Marine organisms are rich in a variety of materials with potential use in Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine. One important example is fucoidan, a sulfated polysaccharide extracted from the cell wall of brown seaweeds [1].  Fucoidan is composed by L-fucose, sulfate groups and glucuronic acid and have important bioactive properties such as anti-oxidative, anticoagulant, anticancer and reducing the blood glucose [1]. In this work, the biomedical potential of fucoidan was assessed by processing modified fucoidan (MFu) into particles by photopolymerization using superamphiphobic surfaces and visible light. For that, fucoidan was modified by methacrylation reaction using different concentrations (8% and 12% v/v) of methacrylate anhydride. Subsequently, MFu particles were produced by pipetting a solution of 5% of MFu with triethanolamine and eosin-y onto a superamphiphobic surface and then photocrosslinked using visible light [2]. The developed particles were characterized by FTIR, ¹HNMR, assessment of sulfate degree and swelling behavior, as well as morphological evaluation. To examine cell behavior in developed structures, 3.5x10⁵ cells/mlofL929-mouse fibroblast like cells were seeded in the MFu particles. The results confocal, MTS and DNA revealed a good adhesion, viability and proliferation. The cells show a spindle shape and are able to migrate into the particles core during the culture period studied. These findings indicated that modified fucoidan particles could be a good candidate for biomedical applications.