Multiple cues in acellular amniotic membrane incorporated embelin for tissue engineering

Human Amniotic Membranes (hAM) are an indispensable source as the components of the tissue engineering triad: scaffolds, cells, and bioactive molecules. Native collagen mimetic hAM is advantageous for biocompatibility, low cost, and availability as a scaffolding biomaterial for regenerative medicine. Recently, hAM has been recast as a potential source of composite biomaterial by various preparation techniques that aim at retaining growth factors and secretome. The exploration of hAM scaffolds its topography, its constituting array of bioactive molecules, and modality of application remain nascent. The wound healing cascade requisites elimination of over accumulated and deleterious Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) to accelerate tissue repair and regenerative processes. The study reports decellularized, dehydrated Amniotic Membrane (dAM) incorporated with embelin, a natural benzoquinone compound synthesized from Embelia ribes for neutralizing free radicals, while simultaneously accelerates wound healing. hAM processed from the placenta has been characterized for integrity by histology, bio-degradability, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and cytokines analysis determined the presence of growth factors vital for tissue regeneration. The spectroscopic analysis confirmed the synthesized embelin and demonstrated burst release (>80%) from the embelin incorporated dAM supported by mathematical modelling. Surface topography and roughness of embelin incorporated AM were examined by scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy respectively. In addition to anti-oxidant activity, the presence of embelin has significantly improved the initial fibroblast cell adhesion and proliferation compared to plain dAM and TCPS. In brief, the collagen mimetic intact dAM retains growth factors bioactivity and the anti-oxidant embelin synergistically influences the fibroblast cells thereby aid rapid wound healing and tissue regeneration.