An Environmental Friendly Tapioca Starch-Alginate Cultured Scaffold as Biomimetic Muscle Tissue

Natural porous scaffolds have been studied and developed for decades in biomedical science in order to support cells with a simulated extracellular matrix in natural tissue as an ideal environment. Such three-dimensional scaffolds provide many degrees of freedom to modulate cell activity, such as porosity, pore size, mechanical strength, biodegradability, and biocompatibility. In this study, a porous, three-dimensional material of alginate incorporating tapioca starch was fabricated. A particular freeze-gelation method was applied to homogenously mix starch in the alginate, and the concentration was controllable. This pure natural composite porous scaffold was characterized physically and biologically. The synergistic functions, including biocompatibility, biodegradability, cell adhesion, and cell proliferation, were also investigated. A myogenic differentiation model further verified that the composite porous scaffold provided a suitable environment, supporting the differentiation effect in the myogenic process. The positive results demonstrated that this novel material has the potential to serve as a biomedical or clean meat appliance.

Automated summary

Natural porous scaffolds have been extensively studied and developed in biomedical science for decades, providing an ideal environment for cells with properties such as porosity, pore size, mechanical strength, biodegradability, and biocompatibility. A novel porous composite scaffold incorporating tapioca starch in alginate has been fabricated and characterized, showing potential for biomedical applications such as supporting cell differentiation. The positive results demonstrated the synergistic functions of the scaffold in promoting cell adhesion, proliferation, and myogenic differentiation.