Insight into delivery of dermal fibroblast by non-biodegradable bacterial nanocellulose composite hydrogel on wound healing

In skin tissue engineering, a biodegradable scaffold is usually used where cells grow, produce its own cytokines, growth factors, and extracellular matrix, until the regenerated tissue gradually replaces the scaffold upon its degradation. However, the role of non-biodegradable scaffold remains unexplored. This study investigates the potential of a non-biodegradable bacterial nanocellulose/acrylic acid (BNC/AA) hydrogel to transfer human dermal fibroblasts (HDF) to the wound and the resulting healing effects of transferred HIDE in athymic mice. Results demonstrated that the fabricated hydrogel successfully transferred >50% of MN onto the wound site within 24 h, with evidence of MN detected on day 7. The gene and protein study unveiled faster wound healing in the hydrogel with HIDE group and characterized more mature newly formed skin microstructure on day 7, despite no visible differences. These findings give a new perspective regarding the role of non-biodegradable materials in skin tissue engineeting, in the presence of exogenous cells, mainly at the molecular level. (C) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.