Collagen-Based 3D Scaffolds from Sea Urchin Food Waste for Skeletal Muscle Tissue Engineering

Preclinical investigations involving in vivo animal studies, are considered a crucial and mandatory step in pharmacological industry regulations. In recent years, as the ethical concerns associated with animal experimentation are becoming more relevant, substantial research efforts have been directed towards the development of novel in vitro methodological approaches aimed at minimizing the utilization of animals. Among those, three-dimensional (3D) cell culture systems have become one of the most promising substitutes for animal models. Skeletal muscle can be affected by genetic disorders and injuries. In this study, two types of 3D scaffolds (Coll and CollMA), prepared starting from a fibrillar collagen suspension extracted from sea urchin food waste, were used as platforms for the generation of 3D skeletal muscle tissue models. The scaffolds were cellularized with C2C12 myoblasts. As the culture period progressed, C2C12 cells gradually infiltrated and were viable throughout both scaffold types, establishing a multilayered cellular population. In the CollMA scaffold, the reciprocal Pax7/MyoD expression pattern suggests a progression of myoblasts towards myogenic commitment. Taken together, our results, although preliminary, suggest that sea urchin-derived collagen matrix represents a promising scaffold for skeletal muscle tissue engineering.