Bacterial cellulose micro-nano fibres for wound healing applications

Abstract

Bacterial cellulose (BC) is cellulose produced by a few limited species of bacteria in given conditions. BC has many remarkable properties such as its high mechanical properties, water uptake ability and biocompatibility which makes it a very desirable material to be used for wound healing. Inherently due to these important properties, the material is very resistant to easy processing and thus difficult to produce into useful entities. Additionally, being rate limited by the dependency on bacterial production, high yield is difficult to obtain and thus secondary material processing is sought after. In this review, BC is explained in terms of synthesis, structure and properties. These beneficial properties are directly related to the material's great potential in wound healing where it has also been trialled commercially but ultimately failed due to processing issues. However, more recently there has been increased frequency in scientific work relating to BC processing into hybrid polymeric fibres using common laboratory fibre forming techniques such as electrospinning and pressurised gyration. This paper summarises current progress in BC fibre manufacturing, its downfalls and also gives a future perspective on how the landscape should change to allow BC to be utilised in wound care in the current environment.

Bacterial Cellulose (Komagataeibacter rhaeticus) Biocomposites and Their Cytocompatibility

“…BC has highly unique characteristics, such as strong water retention, slow water liberation, high crystallinity, excellent thermal and mechanical properties, an ultra-dispersed fiber network, multifunctionality, absence of toxicity, and the ability to mold into 3D structures [ 3 ]. These features make it a promising material for use in biomedicine as drug carrier systems, matrices for tissue engineering, wound dressing materials, vessel implants, artificial blood vessels, biological films, and biosensors [ 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 ]. BC is highly biocompatible due to its structural similarity to components of the extracellular matrix (e.g., collagen), and it undergoes complex interactions with biological tissues.…”

Plant- vs. Bacterial-Derived Cellulose for Wound Healing: A Review

“…To cater for this issue, researchers have studied a few methods that can be effective against prevention of biofilm protection. This includes immobilization of lysozyme and glycoside hydrolase in BC [ 23 , 24 ]. In this context, several studies suggested that integration of lysozyme may increase the size of the particles which may cause significant alteration in specific activity [ 25 ].…”

Commercial and potential applications of bacterial cellulose in Brazil: ten years review

“…Most BC studies are currently focused in the biomedical field, where the multifunctionality of this polymer has been shown mainly through the development of biomaterials as wound dressing, scaffold for tissue engineering and drug delivery [135] (Table 1).…”