56 / 2021-05-31 14:27:24

Construction of growth factors incorporated biodegradable nanocellulose scaffold for Potential wound healing application

Nanocellulose; Scaffold; Wound healing; Growth factors; Biomedical application

Nanocellulose is considered to be one of the most promising biomaterials owing to its biocompatibility, low toxicity, and tunable bioactivities via functionalization with desired biomacromolecules. The nanocellulose-based biomaterials development is a research hotspot in the field of biomedicine and pharmacy in recent decades with the potential to surpass traditional polymer materials. However, the construction of nanocellulose-based biomaterials for wound healing requires strict control of the biophysical and biochemical conditions during the construction process to guide cell reproduction and growth during the wound healing process. The current work incorporated basic fibroblast growth factors (bFGFs) into the nanocellulose hydrogel network by mimicking the interaction between bFGFs and heparin sulfate in the extracellular matrix in vivo to construct a bioactive scaffold with tunable release of bFGFs for potential wound healing applications. Cellulase was in-situ adsorbed into the scaffold for slow degradation of the nanocellulose network and accelerate the release of bFGFs. To analyze the interaction between the positively charged bFGFs and the negatively charged cellulose nanofibers, a quartz crystal microbalance and dissipation monitoring (QCM-D) analysis was used to reveal the interaction between the multi-ion complexes. Such polyion complex interaction prevents denaturation of the bFGFs, meanwhile enables the slowly release of bFGFs from the structure. The release profile of bFGFs from CNF scaffolds can be tailored by adjusting the surface chemistry of CNF and the in-situ deconstruction of the scaffold. The enzymatic hydrolysis of the scaffold provides favorable conditions for regulating the bioavailability of bFGFs to guide cell growth and proliferation, and more importantly, to balance the scaffolds degradation and new tissue formation during wound healing. The fluorescence imaging of cell proliferation in the bFGF incorporated nanocellulose scaffolds showed that cells can evenly distribute and growth in the 3D network.  MTT assay suggested that the CNF scaffold loaded with bFGF can significantly promote cell proliferation, while  enzymatic hydrolysis of CNFs network can further increase the bioavailability of bFGFs, thereby promoting cell proliferation. This work may serve as an important step in the development of nanocellulose-based biomaterials for  potential wound healing application.