Product Advantages

Synthetic Nanofiber

In both scale and function,PuraMatrix™ resembles natural collagen, the most abundant protein in nature. Collagen and other similar proteins provide structural integrity to the extracellular matrix (ECM) as in vivo scaffolds for cell attachment, migration and tissue organization. Human and animal derived collagen and similar proteins present risk of infection and immune response due to their biogenic origins. As a fully synthetic, non-animal derived extracellular matrix, PuraMatrix™ removes any risks associated with biogenic sources. Additionally, the ability to produce PuraMatrix™ peptide hydrogel by strictly controlled and validated ISO-certified manufacturing techniques without the use of human or animal sources, or of recombination, ensures a pure, defined, always reproducible, high quality product.

Biocompatible Short Term Resorbable

PuraMatrix™ has passed a rigorous suite of biocompatibility and toxicity tests for medical devices, demonstrating complete resorption in less than 30 days - without problematic immune reactions or toxic breakdown products. Short-term resorbability and function as a provisional biomaterial not only contribute to enhanced usability but also mitigate concerns which plague other resorbable biomaterials (breakdown of products, foreign body response, scarring and post-operative pain). A number of animal studies by both Gentaur and independent clinical researchers have demonstrated these advantages, resulting in a strong body of published literature.

Injectable Delivery

PuraMatrix™ can be injected through fine gauge needles and catheters. PuraMatrix™ gels after injection into tissue, trapping therapeutics and preventing back-leakage of injectate, thus retaining therapeutics in a tissue or defect for a longer period. The nanofiber assembly can retain and release protein therapeutics (BMP, PDFG, VEGF, etc.), drugs and cells in a controlled manner for up to 10 days, depending on the therapeutic and dynamics of the particular tissue. Together, these features serve unmet needs across a range of biomaterial applications while complementing biologics, therapeutics, medical devices and surgical procedures. Functional delivery can mean the difference between success and failure, especially for those therapies with demonstrated effectiveness in vitro. 

Allograft and Autograft Extender

Many opportunities exist to combine PuraMatrix™ with allograft biomaterials and autograft tissue. Not only does PuraMatrix™ serve as a synthetic extracellular matrix, but it also acts as an injectable extender, allowing superior surgical handling and delivery while decreasing the amount of allograft or autograft needed per procedure.

Customizable Platform for Tethered Bioactives Motifs

PuraMatrix™ can be customized to elicit desired effects on specific cells and tissues by simply adding bioactives to the PuraMatrix™ solution. Modifying the self-assembling peptide monomers with bioactives can create scaffolds with single or multiple motifs chemically tethered to them, further enhancing the desired bioactivity.

Superior 3-D Cell Culture Media

PuraMatrix™ is similar to agarose, collagen and methylcellulose in that it typically supports long-term growth of many different cell types, either for differentiation or tumorigenicity studies. Unlike collagen substrates and scaffolds, PuraMatrix™ will not shrink due to contraction by fibroblasts and other cell types.

PuraMatrix™ is different from agarose, collagen and methylcellulose in that it is transparent, synthetic and supports anchorage-dependent cell types. PuraMatrix™ is often used at much lower concentrations (i.e. 1.0%, 0.5% and 0.25%) than other hydrogels, improving nutrient diffusion, cell morphology and cell viability. PuraMatrix™ forms a loose gel, yielding improved culture, complex cell structure formation, analysis and recovery of cells. In many cases, differential cell growth will be evident and it is much easier to isolate cells, DNA and proteins from PuraMatrix™ than from other synthetic and animal-derived matrices.

Optical Characteristics

PuraMatrix™ is colorless and transparent. Because it consists typically of 98% - 99.5% water, its optical characteristics are similar to water. This clarity makes PuraMatrix™ ideally suited for application in scientific research or in medicine that requires visual access to objects like cells, particles, tissues, etc. that are either embedded in or covered by PuraMatrix™.

Comparison