Improved biomedical bioactivity of polyvinyl alcohol/polyethylene oxide composite system-based nanofiber membranes via incorporating Antarctic krill protein.

[Display omitted] • Nanofiber membranes with good microscopic morphology and high porosity containing AKP were successfully prepared. • AKP increased the nanofiber membranes' cell coverage and relative cell viability. • The ordered secondary structure content of AKP showed a positive correlation with the its intermolecular hydrogen bonds. • AKP improved the thermal stability and mechanical properties of nanofiber membranes. Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and polyethylene oxide (PEO) nanofiber membranes with high porosity and specific surface area supply a suitable structural environment for cell growth, however the difficulty of cells adhesion to and growth has tremendously limited their application in biomedical materials. In this work, by incorporating Antarctic krill protein (AKP), the problem in cells adhesion and growth is successfully addressed for PVA/PEO nanofiber membranes. Meanwhile, it is worth noting that the problem that AKP is difficult to prepare nanofibers by electrospinning process is also effectively avoided. The intermolecular interactions ensure the uniform dispersion of AKP in the nanofiber membranes. And both the crystal structure content of nanofiber membranes and the ordered secondary structure content of AKP reach the maximum values of 37.41 % and 52.17 % at the AKP content of 20 %. The tensile strength is improved by 13.46 % notably. More importantly, the introduction of AKP enhances cell proliferation and viability and adds more recognition sites for cell attachment, solving the problem of difficult cell adhesion and growth. Thus, as-prepared nanofiber membranes containing AKP can supply suitable structural environment and excellent biocompatibility, for cell growth and reproduction. It is expected to be an essential candidate in biomedical materials with potential application prospects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]