Carrageenan is a thermoreversible polymer of natural origin widely used in food and pharmaceutical industry that presents a glycosaminoglycan-like structure. Herein, we show that kappa-type carrageenan extracted by a semi-refined process from the red seaweed Kappaphycus alvarezii displayed both chemical and structural properties similar to a commercial carrageenan. Moreover, both extracted carrageenan hydrogel and commercial carrageenan hydrogel can serve as a scaffold for in vitro culture of human skin-derived multipotent stromal cells, demonstrating considerable potential as cell-carrier materials for cell delivery in tissue engineering. Skin-derived multipotent stromal cells cultured inside the carrageenan hydrogels showed a round shape morphology and maintained their growth and viability for at least one week in culture. Next, the effect of the extracted carrageenan hydrogel loaded with human skin-derived multipotent stromal cells was evaluated in a mouse model of full-thickness skin wound. Macroscopic and histological analyses revealed some pointed ameliorated features, such as reduced inflammatory process, faster initial recovery of wounded area, and improved extracellular matrix deposition. These results indicate that extracted carrageenan hydrogel can serve as a scaffold for in vitro growth and maintenance of human SD-MSCs, being also able to act as a delivery system of cells to wounded skin. Thus, evaluation of the properties discussed in this study contribute to a further understanding and specificities of the potential use of carrageenan hydrogel as a delivery system for several applications, further to skin wound healing.
Keywords: Multipotent stromal cells; carrageenan hydrogel; scaffold; skin wound healing; tissue engineering.