Evaluation and Implementation of Biocompatible Methods for the Cross-linking of Plasma Proteins

Abstract

Autologous plasma proteins can be used to fabricate patient specific cardiovascular implants but need to be cross-linked to increase their mechanical strength and reduce water solubility. Glutaraldehyde is the state-of-The-Art solution but its reaction products have been shown to be cytotoxic and pro-inflammatory. In this work, it has been shown, that cross-linking of plasma proteins with biocompatible alternatives to glutaraldehyde is possible. This was achieved by identifying four candidate substances (thrombin, transglutaminase, genipin, EDC) from current literature and investigating their ability to cross-link porcine plasma proteins in vitro. The degree of crosslinking was examined using calorimetric (DSC) and spectroscopic (FTIR, Raman) methods, mapping the influence of cross-linking on the denaturation temperature and primary amino-group content of the proteins. It could be shown that thrombin, genipin and EDC are able to cross-link plasma proteins to a satisfactory degree and thus represent useful alternatives to glutaraldehyde. Transglutaminase, on the other hand, could not sufficiently cross-link the plasma proteins and was therefore ruled out as an alternative.