Comparison of two types of bioreactors for synthesis of bacterial nanocellulose tubes as potential medical prostheses including artificial blood vessels

Abstract

BACKGROUND Bacterial nanocellulose (BNC) has prospects for use in applications of artificial blood vessels, esophagus and urethra. Several bioreactors have been utilized for synthesis of BNC tubes, however, little is known about differences in biosynthesis processes and tube properties. The current work for the first time compared two types of bioreactors, double‐silicone‐tube (D‐BNC) and single‐silicone‐tube (S‐BNC) bioreactors, to evaluate differences in preparation and properties of BNC tubes using fructose or glucose of 50 g L−1 and 100 g L−1, respectively. RESULTS The two bioreactors showed different biosynthesis processes of BNC tube production. The D‐BNC bioreactor provided higher yields and better mechanical performance of tubes because of the greater oxygen supply. Higher fructose concentration resulted in increased production of D‐BNC, but sugar types and concentrations had little effect on S‐BNC yields. Fructose granted stronger mechanical properties, but lower water permeability. Both types of tubes prepared with 100 g L−1 fructose were composed of porous nano‐fibrillar networks but showed different cross‐sectional morphologies and fiber distributions. CONCLUSION This study revealed the biosynthesis processes of BNC tubes in two bioreactors and their correlation with properties. The results suggest how to regulate BNC tubes with particular structures and properties for biomedical prostheses including artificial blood vessels. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry

Production and evaluation of biosynthesized cellulose tubes as promising nerve guides for spinal cord injury treatment

“…The UTS of the BCTs increased with increasing cultivation time. Similar observations were also reported by Hong, Wei, and Chen () and Tang, Li, Bao, Chen, and Hong () who studied the mechanical properties of BC tubes obtained from 7 to 14 days of cell culture, respectively. In particular, BCT22 had the highest cellulose content, and exhibited the highest UTS (1.43 ± 0.29 MPa) when compared to those cultivated for less time (i.e., BCT3–BCT18; Figure a).…”

Determination of live and dead Komagataeibacter xylinus cells and first attempt at precise control of inoculation in nanocellulose production

“…In static cultures for BNC production, a small amount of living cells are distributed in the liquid phase of the culture, while the vast majority of living cells are embedded in the solid cellulose phase (Bielecki et al , ). It has been reported that K. xylinus cells accumulate at the air/liquid interface (Tang et al , ), and the liquid phase that is far away from air might contain less oxygen, causing fewer cells to be distributed in the liquid phase. In the cellulose membrane, the living cells also have non‐uniform distribution in the vertical direction, where living cells mainly distribute in the shallow outer region of BNC membrane that is close to the air/oxygen, while in the deep inner region living cells can hardly be observed (Tang et al , ; Zhang et al , ).…”

“…It has been reported that K. xylinus cells accumulate at the air/liquid interface (Tang et al , ), and the liquid phase that is far away from air might contain less oxygen, causing fewer cells to be distributed in the liquid phase. In the cellulose membrane, the living cells also have non‐uniform distribution in the vertical direction, where living cells mainly distribute in the shallow outer region of BNC membrane that is close to the air/oxygen, while in the deep inner region living cells can hardly be observed (Tang et al , ; Zhang et al , ). The limitation of this work is that the current living cell results are only relevant to the free cells suspended in the liquid phase.…”

“…Bacterial nanocellulose has attracted increasing attention due to its excellent properties and great potential in wide applications in the fields of paper, textiles, food, cosmetics, advanced materials and biomedicine (Bielecki et al , ; Reiniati et al , ; Chen et al , ). Currently, more studies have focused on the utilization of BNC in biomedical materials, such as vascular graft material (Klemm et al , ; Fink et al , ; Tang et al , ), wound treatment material (Fu et al , ; Sulaeva et al , ) and many other biomedical fields (Pichetha et al , ).…”

Design and Synthesis of Fluorescent Nanocelluloses for Sensing and Bioimaging Applications

“…The last NCs named BNCs, of bacterial nanocellulose, are also known as bacterial cellulose and microbial cellulose. BNCs are made produced by starting with carbon sources, particularly bacteria, like such as Gluconacetobacter xylinus , but other bacterial species, such as Agrobacterium , Pseudomonas , Rhizobium, and Sarcina that can also be productive sources . Biological fungi spontaneously synthesize BNCs with higher purity, crystallinity and mechanical stability under natural condition such that the BNCs obtained do not include lignin and hemicellulose, as exists in wood raw materials.…”