Bacterial cellulose/poly(ethylene glycol) composite: characterization and first evaluation of biocompatibility

Abstract

Bacterial cellulose (BC)/poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) composite was prepared by immersing wet BC pellicle in PEG aqueous solution followed by freeze-drying process. The product looks like a foam structure. The morphology of BC/PEG composite was examined by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and compared with pristine BC. SEM images showed that PEG molecules was not only coated on the BC fibrils surface but also penetrated into BC fiber networks. It has very well interconnected porous network structure and large aspect surface. The composite was also characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectrum, X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and tensile test. It was found that the presence of PEG affected the preferential orientation of the (1 " 10) plane during the drying process of BC pellicle, which in turn decrease the crystallinity of dried BC. The TGA result showed that the thermal stability was improved from 263 to 293°C, which might be associated with strong interaction between BC and PEG. Tensile test results indicate that the Young's modulus and tensile strength tend to decrease. Biocompatibility of composite was preliminarily evaluated by cell adhesion studies using 3T3 fibroblast cells. The cells incubated with BC/PEG scaffolds for 48 h were capable of forming cell adhesion and proliferation, which showed much better biocompatibility than the pure BC. The prepared BC/PEG scaffolds can be used for wound dressing or tissue-engineering scaffolds.

Surface modified cellulose scaffolds for tissue engineering

“…However, when PLGA degrades in vivo, the acidic metabolites can have a detrimental effect on the local pH of the extracellular matrix (ECM), which can cause inflammation and an immune response, or even cell and tissue necrosis (Willerth and Sakiyama-Elbert 2008;Liu et al 2006). Hydrogels prepared from PEG are able to resist protein adsorption due to the non-ionic hydrophilic nature of the polymer (Knop et al 2010) and have been used to engineer a wide range of tissue from bone (Luu et al 2003) and cartilage (Bryant and Anseth 2003) to nerve tissue (Cai and Kim 2010). However, like PLGA, PEG scaffolds often need to be functionalised with matrix ligands or peptides to facilitate cell attachment.…”

Preparation of bacterial cellulose based hydrogels and their viscoelastic behavior

“…Concern with this regard, cellulose which is one of the polysaccharides widely available in nature has attracted the attention of researchers as it is renewable and biodegradable biopolymer [2]. The cellulose in structure is a linear polymer made up of glucose molecules linked by (1-4) glyosidic linkages [3]. Moreover the abundant source of cellulose is through plants and next by different micro-organisms [3].…”

“…The cellulose in structure is a linear polymer made up of glucose molecules linked by (1-4) glyosidic linkages [3]. Moreover the abundant source of cellulose is through plants and next by different micro-organisms [3]. The pure cellulose is obtained through solvent extraction process [2].…”

“…However, there are chances for the degradation of the crystalline structure within the cellulose so cellulose obtained from bacterial source is preferred [2]. Bacterial cellulose (BC) is produced from the strain of Gluconacetobacter xylinus, which is a Gram-negative, rod shaped and aerobic bacterium [3]. BC differs from plant cellulose in many aspects like high crystallinity, ultrafine network structure, high water absorption capacity, high mechanical strength and biocompatibility [3,4].…”

“…Bacterial cellulose (BC) is produced from the strain of Gluconacetobacter xylinus, which is a Gram-negative, rod shaped and aerobic bacterium [3]. BC differs from plant cellulose in many aspects like high crystallinity, ultrafine network structure, high water absorption capacity, high mechanical strength and biocompatibility [3,4]. Because of such valuable and useful properties persisted by BC, it has huge demand in several biomedical fields like artificial skin for burn, blood vessels, wound healing material, drug delivery etc.…”