Cellulose Mesh with Charged Nanocellulose Coatings as a Promising Carrier of Skin and Stem Cells for Regenerative Applications

Julia Pajorova*, Anne Skogberg*, Daniel Hadraba, Antonin Broz, Martina Travnickova, Marketa Zikmundova, Mari Honkanen, Markus Hannula, Panu Lahtinen, Maria Tomkova, Lucie Bacakova*, Pasi Kallio*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

28 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Engineering artificial skin constructs is an ongoing challenge. An ideal material for hosting skin cells is still to be discovered. A promising candidate is low-cost cellulose, which is commonly fabricated in the form of a mesh and is applied as a wound dressing. Unfortunately, the structure and the topography of current cellulose meshes are not optimal for cell growth. To enhance the surface structure and the physicochemical properties of a commercially available mesh, we coated the mesh with wood-derived cellulose nanofibrils (CNFs). Three different types of mesh coatings are proposed in this study as a skin cell carrier: positively charged cationic cellulose nanofibrils (cCNFs), negatively charged anionic cellulose nanofibrils (aCNFs), and a combination of these two materials (c+aCNFs). These cell carriers were seeded with normal human dermal fibroblasts (NHDFs) or with human adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs) to investigate cell adhesion, spreading, morphology, and proliferation. The negatively charged aCNF coating significantly improved the proliferation of both cell types. The positively charged cCNF coating significantly enhanced the adhesion of ADSCs only. The number of NHDFs was similar on the cCNF coatings and on the noncoated pristine cellulose mesh. However, the three-dimensional (3D) structure of the cCNF coating promoted cell survival. The c+aCNF construct proved to combine benefits from both types of CNFs, which means that the c+aCNF cell carrier is a promising candidate for further application in skin tissue engineering.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)4857-4870
Number of pages14
JournalBiomacromolecules
Volume21
Issue number12
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 14 Dec 2020
MoE publication typeA1 Journal article-refereed

Funding

This study was supported by the Grant Agency of Czech Republic (Grant no. 20-01641S), by the Grant Agency of Charles University in Prague (Grant no. 756218), by the Academy of Finland through the WoodBone Project (Grant no. 326399), by the Centre of Excellence in Body-on-Chip Research (Grant no. 336785), and by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic (MEYS CR) within LQ1604 National Sustainability Program II (BIOCEV-FAR Project). Julia Pajorova received funding (Development of HR capabilities, internationalization, popularization and IP utilization, No. CZ.02.2.69/0.0/0.0/16_028/0006226) for traveling to Finland.

Keywords

  • Cellulose
  • Humans
  • Hydrogels
  • Skin
  • Stem Cells
  • Tissue Engineering

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