Preparation and characterization of keratin-based biosheet from bovine horn waste as wound dressing material

The preparation of a skin substitute with improved mechanical property and biocompatibility is needed for the advancement of tissue engineering. This is a first time report on the extraction of keratin (HK) from bovine horn and its use in the preparation of a composite biosheet by blending with chitosan (CH). The prepared biosheet exhibited better thermal and mechanical properties. Surface morphology revealed that the biosheet supported fibroblast cell attachment, and this result was corroborated with the MTT assay. Sustained release of the mupirocin (MP) from biosheet was observed during in vitro drug release studies. The enhancement of cell adhesion and proliferation of NIH 3T3 fibroblast has shown better biocompatibility with the HK-based biosheet. Thus HK-based biosheet have good potentials and could be used as wound dressing material.