Exploring the complex mechanical properties of xanthan scaffolds by AFM-based force spectroscopy

Acoustic Force Elastography Microscopy

OBJECTIVE

Hydrogel scaffolds have attracted attention to develop cellular therapy and tissue engineering platforms for regenerative medicine applications. Among factors, local mechanical properties of scaffolds drive the functionalities of cell niche. Dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), the standard method to characterize mechanical properties of hydrogels, restricts development in tissue engineering because the measurement provides a single elasticity value for the sample, requires direct contact, and represents a destructive evaluation preventing longitudinal studies on the same sample. We propose a novel technique, acoustic force elastography microscopy (AFEM), to evaluate elastic properties of tissue engineering scaffolds.

RESULTS

AFEM can resolve localized and two-dimensional (2D) elastic properties of both transparent and opaque materials with advantages of being non-contact and non-destructive. Gelatin hydrogels, neat synthetic oligo[poly(ethylene glycol)fumarate] (OPF) scaffolds, OPF hydroxyapatite nanocomposite scaffolds and ex vivo biological tissue were examined with AFEM to evaluate the elastic modulus. These measurements of Young's modulus range from approximately 2 kPa to over 100 kPa were evaluated and are in good agreement with finite element simulations, surface wave measurements, and DMA tests.

CONCLUSION

The AFEM can resolve localized and 2D elastic properties of hydrogels, scaffolds and thin biological tissues. These materials can either be transparent or non-transparent and their evaluation can be done in a non-contact and non-destructive manner, thereby facilitating longitudinal evaluation.

SIGNIFICANCE

AFEM is a promising technique to quantify elastic properties of scaffolds for tissue engineering and will be applied to provide new insights for exploring elastic changes of cell-laden scaffolds for tissue engineering and material science.

Application of xanthan gum as polysaccharide in tissue engineering: A review

Xanthan gum is a microbial high molecular weight exo-polysaccharide produced by Xanthomonas bacteria (a Gram-negative bacteria genus that exhibits several different species) and it has widely been used as an additive in various industrial and biomedical applications such as food and food packaging, cosmetics, water-based paints, toiletries, petroleum, oil-recovery, construction and building materials, and drug delivery. Recently, it has shown great potential in issue engineering applications and a variety of modification methods have been employed to modify xanthan gum as polysaccharide for this purpose. However, xanthan gum-based biomaterials need further modification for several targeted applications due to some disadvantages (e.g., processing and mechanical performance of xanthan gum), where modified xanthan gum will be well suited for tissue engineering products. In this review, the current scenario of the use of xanthan gum for various tissue engineering applications, including its origin, structure, properties, modification, and processing for the preparation of the hydrogels and/or the scaffolds is precisely reviewed.

Comparative analysis of different xanthan samples by atomic force microscopy

The polysaccharide xanthan which is produced by the γ-proteobacterium Xanthomonas campestris is used as a food thickening agent and rheologic modifier in numerous food, cosmetics and technical applications. Its great commercial importance stimulated biotechnological approaches to optimize the xanthan production. By targeted genetic modification the metabolism of Xanthomonas can be modified in such a way that the xanthan production efficiency and/or the shear-thickening potency is optimized. Using atomic force microscopy (AFM) the secondary structure of single xanthan polymers produced by the wild type Xanthomonas campestris B100 and several genetically modified variations were analyzed. We found a wide variation of characteristic differences between xanthan molecules produced by different strains. The structures ranged from single-stranded coiled polymers to branched xanthan double-strands. These results can help to get a better understanding of the polymerization- and secretion-machinery that are relevant for xanthan synthesis. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the xanthan secondary structure strongly correlates with its viscosifying properties.