Tissue engineering research
Cartilage repair following trauma or degenerative disease can be challenging due the limited self-regenerative abilities of cartilage tissue. Advances in regenerative medicine, including tissue engineering, may assist in restoring normal tissue functionality.
Two recent studies, both by Carvalho et al. (2023), found artificial membrane formulations incorporating Marinova's fucoidan with collagen and chitosan showed promising tissue engineering properties.
The first study, published in the International Journal of Biological Macromolecules, developed a cryogel that when formulated with fucoidan enhanced both viability and proliferation of human stem cells. These results are promising for future application in articular cartilage tissues.
The second study, published in the Journal Gels, developed a thin polymeric, artificial membrane with the aim to apply the membrane over damaged articular cartilage to help repair tissues after trauma or degenerative disease. The polymeric membrane incorporated marine collagen with fucoidan and demonstrated beneficial mechanical properties similar to natural articular cartilage.
The high purity fucoidans used in both studies were derived from the brown seaweed Fucus vesiculosus and were produced by Marinova Pty Ltd in Australia.