Entrapping Living Probiotics into Collagen Scaffolds: A New Class of Biomaterials for Antibiotic‐Free Therapy of Bacterial Vaginosis

Abstract

A new concept of biomaterials for antibiotic-free therapy of bacterial vaginosis (BV) is here proposed. These biomaterials were obtained by entrapping two probiotic biofilms, viz. Lactobacillus fermentum (Lf) and Lactobacillus acidophilus (La) into scaffolds of self-assembled collagen fibers (col). An in-depth characterization and viability assays were performed on the resulting biomaterials.

Engineered Living Materials For Sustainability

“…It has gained significant interest in tissue engineering due to its abundance, ease of processing, hydrophilicity, good cell adhesion, excellent biocompatibility, and low immunogenicity. Applications of collagen-based hydrogels in living materials have mainly focused on living therapeutics, and one representative example is the encapsulation of living probiotics to treat bacterial vaginosis . In this work, self-assembled collagen scaffolds were found to increase the pH resistance of encapsulated Lactobacillus fermentum and Lactobacillus acidophilus, enhancing the metabolic activity of these probiotics and promoting cell adhesion to the disease site.…”

Biohybrid materials: Structure design and biomedical applications

“…Benefiting from the utilization of living bio-parts, such biohybrid robotics enable controllable motion and bring extraordinary properties hardly achievable in traditional electromechanical-based robotics such as miniaturization, environment-friendliness, self-healing performance, etc. Apart from motility, some living cells could perform therapeutic activities, such as stem cells, natural killer (NK) cells, islet cells, probiotics, etc [ [24] , [25] , [26] ]. By combining with carrier materials that could support cell viability and extend cellular functions, these biohybrid materials could be utilized for disease treatment and tissue regeneration [ 27 , 28 ].…”

“…These materials give structural support to cells, thus keeping cells alive, supporting cell proliferation, and protecting cells from immunological agents or harsh environments [ 1 ]. In addition, desirable biocompatibility and porous structure are also favored for enabling the translation of gas, nutrients, and metabolism substances [ 26 , 33 , 34 ]. To meet these requirements, a variety of cytocompatible materials, such as collagen, sodium alginate, gelatin, silk fibroin, agarose, etc., have been commonly applied in biohybrid materials [ 6 , 9 , 24 , 30 ].…”

“…Apart from mammalian cells, some functionalized microbial cells also hold great potential for enhancing cell therapy [ 26 ]. For instance, living probiotics can be functionalized by co-depositing dopamine with various functional molecules at the cell surface [ 75 ].…”

Two-Sided Antibacterial Cellulose Combining Probiotics and Silver Nanoparticles

“…Probiotics are live microorganisms known to provide health benefits to the host, either by restoring the natural balance of bacteria in the microbiota [ 15 ], by excreting antipathogenic compounds [ 16 ] or by restoring the pH of infected media to healthy values, as it occurs, for instance, in the therapy of bacterial vaginosis [ 17 ].…”