Regeneration of full-thickness abdominal wall defects in rats using collagen scaffolds loaded with collagen-binding basic fibroblast growth factor

Biomaterials are increasingly used in the repair of tissue defects. The aim of the present study was to evaluate a new composite biomaterial for reconstruction of a 2 × 2.5 cm full-thickness abdominal wall defect. In this study, the collagen membrane was activated with the engineered human basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF). To enhance the binding of bFGF to collagen membranes, a specific peptide of collagen-binding domain (CBD) was fused to the N-terminal of bFGF. After implantation, little adhesion was caused in collagen/CBD-bFGF, collagen/NAT-bFGF and collagen/PBS groups. Moreover, collagen/CBD-bFGF group could effectively promote the vascularization at 30 d after surgery and significantly accelerate the integration of myofibers into the collagen material at 90 d after surgery compared to the other two groups. Due to the replacement of the myofibers in materials, the mechanical strength of implanted biomaterials in collagen/CBD-bFGF group was also greater than the other two groups at 90 d after surgery. Thus, the collagen/CBD-bFGF composite biomaterial was promising for the treatment of full-thickness abdominal wall defect.