Bacterial cellulose (BC) has drawn increasing attention as a unique cellulose form because of its elaborate nanofibrous structure, high water-holding capacity and high purity and crystallinity. It has shown a great potential for biomedical applications, optoelectronics, energy and environmental protection, among others. Microcarrier has been widely used in 3D culture. So far, there have been a variety of microcarriers available commercially[1]. However, BC materials as microcarriers have never been reported.
In present study, a series of cellulose hydrid microspheres (CHM) composed of BC molecular chains and nano-whiskers was fabricated using a in-situ compounding method: BC solution and BC nano-whisker aqueous suspension were first prepared respectively, followed by a emulsification-solidification process of the mixture consisting of BC solution and BC nano-whisker aqueous suspension[2]. Moreover, for the first time, cellulose nano-whisker microspheres (CNWM) were constructed directly through self-assembly of BC nano-whiskers utilizing hydrogen bonding as the driven force without dissolving process. The morphology and microstructure of microspheres were characterized by SEM. L-02, an immortal normal human hepatic cell line[3], was applied as the model to evaluate the biocompatibility of microspheres in vitro, in particular the cell attachment. A high cell attachment efficiency can be expected due to the good biocompatibility and nanoporous structure of microspheres, which indicates the microspheres have great potential as cell microcarriers in 3D culture. Further study including more physical and biological assessment of microspheres is being conducted in our lab.
This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Program No. 31270150).
References:
[1] Chen A K L, Reuveny S, Oh S K W. Application of human mesenchymal and pluripotent stem cell microcarrier cultures in cellular therapy: achievements and future direction[J]. Biotechnology advances, 2013, 31(7): 1032-1046
[2] Duan B, Zheng X, Xia Z, et al. Highly Biocompatible Nanofibrous Microspheres Self‐Assembled from Chitin in NaOH/Urea Aqueous Solution as Cell Carriers[J]. Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2015, 54(17): 5152-5156
[3] Hu X, Yang T, Li C, et al. Human fetal hepatocyte line, L-02, exhibits good liver function in vitro and in an acute liver failure model[C]//Transplantation proceedings. Elsevier, 2013, 45(2): 695-700