Exploring marine collagen application in the formulation of microparticles as scaffold doping agents in tissue engineering

In this study, the potential of marine collagen extracted from fish by-products has been exploited as a bioactive additive to enhance the performance of scaffold materials for tissue regeneration, specifically by improving their adhesiveness to cells. To achieve this goal, the spray-drying technique was utilized to produce collagen microparticles, which were systematically characterized in terms of morphology and cytocompatibility. As a proof of concept, these microparticles were incorporated into a sodium alginate derivative hydrogel to assess their ability to confer cell adhesion properties, making it more suitable as a support for 3D cell culture. The obtained results suggest that the addition of collagen microparticles does not significantly affect the viscoelastic properties of the hydrogels, as demonstrated by rheological studies and 3D printing experiments. Thanks to the use of both a sustainable source and a simple, cost-effective technique, this novel tool could be highly beneficial for enhancing a variety of scaffolds in tissue engineering applications