The usefulness of the collagen and elastin sponge derived from salmon as an artificial dermis and scaffold for tissue engineering

Collagen sponge is one of the medical materials that are frequently used in clinical medicine. However, the problem of prion disease harmfully affected the usage of mammals-derived medical materials. Since there have been no reports about prion disease occurring in marine products, we produced the collagen and elastin sponge (CES) made from salmon, and investigated whether the CES could be a substitute for mammalian collagen sponge. Fibroblasts were seeded in the CES to examine whether the CES could be used as a scaffold for tissue engineering. The results of the WST-1 assay showed that the fibroblasts were viable and were well proliferated in the CES. To examine whether the CES could be used as an artificial dermis, the CES and TERUDERMIS (traditional collagen sponge) were grafted onto the skin defects on the dorsum of rats. The histological findings of these ulcers showed non-significant difference between the CES and TERUDERMIS. Because of the safety, the abundance of the resources, and the possessing same ability as TERUDERMIS, the biomedical materials derived from marine products may be a substitute for those derived from mammals.