Martinelli Giordana, Marzorati Stefania, Roncoroni Margherita, Magro Luciano, Brilli Matteo, Beretta Giangiacomo, Colombo Graziano, Melotti Luca, Carolo Anna, Zivelonghi Giulia, Farris Stefano, Patruno Marco, Soave Raffaella, Trioni Mario Italo, Sugni Michela
Department of Environmental Science and Policy, University of Milan, Milan, Italy.
Department of Agronomy, Animals and Environment, Natural Resources, University of Padua, Legnaro (Padua), Italy.
Mar Biotechnol (NY). 2025 Aug 30;27(5):131. doi: 10.1007/s10126-025-10504-2.
Chronic wounds and skin ulcers pose significant challenges to healthcare systems globally, necessitating innovative approaches to accelerate healing processes. Biomaterial-based therapies have emerged as promising solutions for tissue regeneration. This study focuses on valorization of sea urchin waste toward the development and characterization of collagen-based scaffolds added with polyhydroxynaphthoquinone (PHNQ) antioxidants, successfully incorporated into biomaterials at optimal ratio, enhancing scaffold stability and integrity. Water uptake, mechanical properties, and degradation kinetics of the composite scaffolds were evaluated and compared with controls. Biocomposites were also tested for cytotoxicity. Results indicate that composite scaffolds exhibit superior chemical stability and slower degradation rates, attributed to strong interactions between collagen and PHNQs. This aspect was explored also through in silico investigations by means of tight binding molecular dynamics methods. It has been found that a covalent bond forms between the selected collagen representative and one PHNQ. Furthermore, the antioxidant activity of PHNQs was retained in the composite scaffolds, providing additional therapeutic benefits under the perspective application of regenerative medicine. Normal human dermal fibroblasts (NHDF) exposed to the combination of collagen and PHNQs remained viable. Overall, these findings highlight the potential of sea urchin food waste in a valorization chain, offering added value through the production of collagen-based composite scaffolds.
慢性伤口和皮肤溃疡给全球医疗系统带来了重大挑战，因此需要创新方法来加速愈合过程。基于生物材料的疗法已成为组织再生的有前景的解决方案。本研究重点在于将海胆废弃物转化为添加多羟基萘醌（PHNQ）抗氧化剂的胶原蛋白基支架的开发与表征，该抗氧化剂以最佳比例成功掺入生物材料中，增强了支架的稳定性和完整性。评估了复合支架的吸水性、力学性能和降解动力学，并与对照组进行了比较。还测试了生物复合材料的细胞毒性。结果表明，复合支架表现出优异的化学稳定性和较慢的降解速率，这归因于胶原蛋白与PHNQ之间的强相互作用。还通过紧密结合分子动力学方法的计算机模拟研究探索了这一方面。已发现所选胶原蛋白代表物与一种PHNQ之间形成了共价键。此外，PHNQ的抗氧化活性在复合支架中得以保留，从再生医学的潜在应用角度提供了额外的治疗益处。暴露于胶原蛋白和PHNQ组合的正常人皮肤成纤维细胞（NHDF）仍保持活力。总体而言，这些发现突出了海胆食品废弃物在增值链中的潜力，通过生产基于胶原蛋白的复合支架提供附加值。
