Scleraldehyde as a stabilizing agent for collagen scaffold preparation

Schizophyllan is a natural polysaccharide, produced by fungi of the genus Schizophyllum. Periodate oxidation specifically cleaves the vicinal glycols in schizophyllan to form their dialdehyde derivatives. The present study investigates the interaction of scleraldehyde with Type I collagen membrane. The formation of the inter and intra interaction between scleraldehyde and the collagen fibres results in significant increase in viscosity of collagen. Crosslinking efficiency of scleraldehyde was found to increase with concentration of scleraldehyde. Scleraldehyde interacted collagen membrane exhibited an increase in thermal stability by 29 °C at pH 8. The gelling time of collagen fibrils was found to decrease with increase in concentration of scleraldehyde due to shift in nucleation centre. Swelling degree of collagen membrane was also found to decrease with increase in concentration of scleraldehyde. Scleraldehyde treated collagen membrane exhibited 93% resistance to collagenase. The modified collagen membrane exhibited non-toxicity towards the fibroblasts cells. The modified collagen membrane by scleraldehyde finds application as a stabilizing agent in scaffold preparation.