Materials science & engineering. C, Materials for biological applicationsDec 11, 2014

Creating a keratin, chitosan, and gelatin scaffold for repairing soft tissues

Regenerative Health Weekly Brief ↗PubMed ↗DOI ↗

Updated Mar 8, 2026

Abstract

The keratin composite scaffold exhibited a tensile strength of 96 kPa and a water uptake capacity of over 1700%.

The scaffold maintained the native structure of its biopolymers as confirmed by Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy.
Thermal analysis indicated a high denaturation temperature of the scaffold ranging from 200 to 250°C.
Good porosity and interconnectivity of pores were observed in the scaffold's morphology using Scanning Electron Microscopy.
Cell viability assays with NIH 3T3 fibroblast cells showed favorable results for the keratin composite scaffold.
The keratin-chitosan-gelatin composite scaffold may serve as a viable alternative biomaterial for tissue engineering applications.

Simplified

Keratin has gained much attention in the recent past as a biomaterial for wound healing owing to its biocompatibility, biodegradability, intrinsic biological activity and presence of cellular binding motifs. In this paper, a novel biomimetic scaffold containing keratin, chitosan and gelatin was prepared by freeze drying method. The prepared keratin composite scaffold had good structural integrity. Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy showed the retention of the native structure of individual biopolymers (keratin, chitosan, and gelatin) used in the scaffold. Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA) and Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) results revealed a high thermal denaturation temperature of the scaffold (200-250°C). The keratin composite scaffold exhibited tensile strength (96 kPa), compression strength (8.5 kPa) and water uptake capacity (>1700%) comparable to that of a collagen scaffold, which was used as control. The morphology of the keratin composite scaffold observed using a Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) exhibited good porosity and interconnectivity of pores. MTT assay using NIH 3T3 fibroblast cells demonstrated that the cell viability of the keratin composite scaffold was good. These observations suggest that the keratin-chitosan-gelatin composite scaffold is a promising alternative biomaterial for tissue engineering applications.

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Creating a keratin, chitosan, and gelatin scaffold for repairing soft tissues

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