Active Peptide-Conjugated Chitosan Matrices as an Artificial Basement Membrane

The basement membrane, a thin extracellular matrix, plays a critical role in tissue development and repair. Laminins are the major component of basement membrane and have diverse biological activities. We have identified various cell-adhesive peptides from laminins and their specific cell surface receptors. Polysaccharides, including chitosan, have been used as scaffolds, which regulate cellular functions for tissue engineering. We have developed laminin-derived active peptide-chitosan matrices as functional scaffolds. The biological activity of the peptides was enhanced when the peptides were conjugated to a chitosan matrix, suggesting that the peptide-chitosan matrix approach has an advantage for an active biomaterial. Further, the laminin peptide-chitosan matrices have the potential to mimic the basement membrane and are useful for tissue engineering as an artificial basement membrane.