Fabrication of multifunctional microfibrous and nanofibrous cellulose carriers and comparison of cell adhesion and spreading potential on them

Fibrous biomaterials have received much attention in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine due to their morphology, resembling extracellular matrix. In comparison to synthetic fibers, cellulose based fibers have interesting properties for cellular applications such as biodegradability, biocompatibility, simple preparation and their potential for chemical modification. Among cellulose derivatives, carboxymethyl cellulose and quaternized cellulose are the most important and valuable cellulose ethers which have anionic and cationic surface charge. In this research, we report the fabrication of multifunctional cellulose microfibrous and nanofibrous scaffolds and the comparison of adhesion and spreading potential of human fibroblast cell on them. The fabricated fibrous scaffolds were characterized by several instrumental techniques. The results showed that multifunctional cellulose nanofibers and microfiber had 8.6 and 8.2 mV surface potential, 7.1 and 6.8 MPa tensile strength, 560 and 510 MPa Young modules, 610 and 595% water uptake and 41o and 44o contact angle, respectively. The MTT assay showed that proliferation of fibroblast cells was enhanced in nanofibrous, compared to microfibrous mat. The SEM analysis of fixed cells on scaffolds showed that cells spreading on nanofibrous samples became more noticeable than microfibrous ones.

Development of Thai Gac Fruit Extraction as a Multifunctional Cosmeceutical Ingredient for Antioxidant, Melanogenesis and Collagen Stimulating Activities

Gac fruit (Momordica cochinchinensis Spreng) is mostly found in southeast Asian countries. Previous studies have demonstrated that gac fruit is a major source of β-carotene, lycopene, and α-tocopherol. This study aimed to develop the extraction of Thai gac fruit as a potential active ingredient for antioxidant, melanogenesis, and collagen stimulating activities. In the present study, different parts of ripe Thai gac fruit, the peel, pulp, and seed membrane, were extracted using the accelerated solvent extraction (ASE) technique, an innovative plant extraction method. DPPH radical-scavenging activity, ABTS radical scavenging activity, and ferric reducing/antioxidant power (FRAP) assay were performed to compare the antioxidant activity derived from each part of the fruit. The effect of Thai gac fruit on melanogenesis and collagen stimulating activities was investigated using B16F1 and human fibroblast cell lines, respectively. The results demonstrate that the pulp (EC50 value of 7.42 ± 0.81 mg/mL) and the seed membrane (EC50 value of 76.43 ± 2.66 μg/mL) showed the strongest antioxidant activities in DPPH and ABTS assay, respectively. The peel clearly displayed the strongest antioxidant activity and significantly increased the FRAP value (247.67 ± 19.73 μM/mg). Furthermore, the peel showed the lowest melanin content (76.56 ± 7.13 % of control) in the B16F1 cell line, and clearly increased the most amount of collagen (21.87 ± 3.12%) in the human fibroblast cell line in comparison to the other fractions. Therefore, Thai gac fruit peel revealed the biological effects, including antioxidant, melanogenesis, and collagen stimulating activities. In conclusion, Thai gac fruit extracted using the ASE technique exhibited several effects that could be used as a potential active ingredient for cosmeceutical products, due to its antioxidant, melanogenesis, and collagen stimulating activities. Our findings provide potential uses of Thai gac fruit as a multifunctional cosmeceutical ingredient to be further explored in future studies.