Bacterial nanocellulose-hyaluronic acid microneedle patches for skin applications: In vitro and in vivo evaluation

Natural Polymers-Based Materials: A Contribution to a Greener Future

“…Engineering natural polymers-based materials derived from polysaccharides and proteins is the main objective of the work carried out by the BioPol4fun research group. In the last decade, we have been intensively exploiting cellulose [ 63 , 64 ], nanocelluloses (e.g., bacterial nanocellulose (BNC) [ 61 , 65 , 66 ], nanofibrillated cellulose (CNFs) [ 67 , 68 ] and cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) [ 69 ]), chitosan [ 70 , 71 , 72 , 73 ], pullulan [ 71 , 74 , 75 , 76 ], starch [ 68 ], hyaluronic acid [ 77 , 78 ], alginate [ 79 ], fucoidan [ 80 , 81 ], agar [ 82 ], lysozyme [ 83 , 84 , 85 , 86 ], and gelatin [ 87 ] ( Figure 1 ) to fabricate films [ 85 , 88 , 89 , 90 , 91 ], membranes [ 81 , 92 , 93 , 94 , 95 ], (nano)composites reference [ 64 , 96 , 97 , 98 , 99 ], coatings [ 100 , 101 , 102 , 103 ], nanosystems [ …”

“…Cellulose is considered the most abundant biopolymer on the planet, being a constituent of most green plants and algae, and naturally secreted in its pure form by some strains of non-pathogenic bacteria (e.g., Komagataeibacter ) [ 66 , 110 ]. This polysaccharide is an eminent feedstock for materials development and can be employed in its native state [ 63 , 64 ] as cellulose derivatives, or in the form of nanofibrils (CNFs) reference [ 85 , 86 , 88 , 89 , 98 , 100 , 101 , 111 ], nanorods (CNCs) [ 69 ], or three-dimensional hydrogel pellicles (BNC) [ 77 , 78 , 79 , 81 , 92 , 93 , 94 , 95 , 104 , 105 , 106 , 112 , 113 , 114 , 115 , 116 , 117 , 118 , 119 , 120 , 121 , 122 , 123 , 124 , 125 , 126 , 127 , 128 ] to manufacture a wide range of materials, as shown in Table 1 . Therefore, the vast majority of the works of our research group entails cellulose nanoforms, i.e., cellulose with at least one dimension in the nanoscale, for the development of nanocomposites [ 98 , ...…”

Bacterial Nanocellulose toward Green Cosmetics: Recent Progresses and Challenges

“…Additionally, the in vitro skin assays also unveiled the successful penetration of these arrays through the skin and the delivery of rutin. The safety and cutaneous compatibility of the MNs HA-BNC were also evaluated and demonstrated in a preliminary in vivo assay performed in human volunteers, in which no significant changes in barrier function, stratum corneum hydration, nor redness were detected [119]. This work reinforces the potential of BNC as a delivery system in cosmetics.…”

“…Examples are the methods claimed in two patents to prepare nanocomposite facial masks of BNC and HA [117] and sericin-HA [118], which are both prepared by addition of the active molecules to the culture medium. More recently, an innovative patch for dermo-cosmetic applications (e.g., skin anti-aging) was developed by Fonseca et al [119] using the non-invasive technology of microneedles (MNs). For further reading about this technology, a recent review gives a comprehensive overview about the last developments on polysaccharides and protein-based MNs [120].…”

“…For further reading about this technology, a recent review gives a comprehensive overview about the last developments on polysaccharides and protein-based MNs [120]. The system developed by Fonseca et al [119] combines the features of HA as the dissolvable MN matrix to enable improvement of the overall appearance of the skin, with the properties of BNC as the back layer to support the MN array and enable the release of additional active molecules (Figure 5b,c) [119]. The effectiveness of the system was demonstrated with the incorporation of the bioactive compound rutin, a natural antioxidant, in the BNC back layer of the MNs system.…”