Abstracto

Chitin and lignin to produce biocompatible tissues

Pierfrancesco Morganti*, Serena Danti, Maria Beatrice Coltelli

The artificial matrices made by biomaterials, also known as scaffolds, are used as structural support for cells to develop tissues. Among the biomaterials, chitin and lignin could be considered the right polymers to make natural-like scaffolds as they are biocompatible and eco-compatible. Moreover, they may be easily electro spun to produce non-woven tissues with a structure similar to the natural extracellular matrix (ECM). In fact, for the particular organization of its fibers, these tissues are able to support appropriate cellular activity, optimizing tissue regeneration without eliciting undesirable local or systemic responses. On the other hand, the necessity to realize biomaterials with the right biochemical and mechanical properties have became a must of our society, due to the increase in the aging population with a consequential enlargement of the global market for the tissue engineering and regeneration, estimated to reach around USD 60 billion in 2019. At this purpose, it is necessary to understand the delicate orchestration of the biological, physicochemical and environmental aspects involving the cell migration and proliferation as well as to exploit the both natural molecules to be used, obtainable today from renewable sources and the green processes routes. The use of natural polymers in substitution to the petrol-derived ones seems the best way to produce skin-friendly healthy tissues and, slowing down the increased plastics production and waste, to try to save the Earth's environment equilibrium and biodiversity. The paper will report some general data to support the use of chitin and lignin as natural biomaterials for tissue engineering in regenerative medicine.