Basic fibroblast growth factor released from fucoidan-modified chitosan/alginate scaffolds for promoting fibroblasts migration

Wound repair process is initiated immediately after injury by releasing a variety of growth factors. It is known that basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) promoted fibroblasts migration, proliferation and effective helped skin wound healing. However, the use of bFGF is limited by two drawbacks, which are its short half-life and easily degraded by enzymes. In this study, we fabricate fucoidan-modified chitosan/ alginate(F-CS/Alg) scaffold to protect and control release bFGF to regulate fibroblast migration activity. The experimental results show that oversulfated fucoidan was successfully prepared, with 43% sulfation degree. The 43% sulfated fucoidan (F43) exhibited effective DPPH scavenging activity, good biocompatibility and protected bFGF from trypsin degradation. The F43-CS/Alg scaffold could maintain bFGF activity and control its release, reaching 2.52 ng/mL for 10 h releasing. In vitro cell studies demonstrate that F43-CS/Alg scaffold showed a considerable elevation in cell viability and promoted L929 fibroblasts migration efficiently. In brief, bFGF loaded F43-CS/Alg scaffold effectively accelerating fibroblast migration for wound repair and could have a great potential in clinical applications in the future.