Bilayer regenerated cellulose/quaternized chitosan-hyaluronic acid/collagen electrospun scaffold for potential wound healing applications

Characterization and Biological Evaluation of Composite Nanofibrous Membranes Prepared from Hemp Salmon (Oncorhynchus keta) Skin Collagen

Aquatic collagen, a natural macromolecule protein with excellent biocompatibility, has attracted attention in the field of medical materials. Compared to mammalian collagen, aquatic collagen offers unique advantages, including the absence of zoonotic disease risks and religious concerns. In this study, salmon skin collagen nanofiber membrane (GS) was prepared by electrostatic spinning. Then, skin collagen was combined with silk sericin (SS) and sodium hyaluronate (HA) to fabricate composite collagen nanofiber membrane (GF) using electrostatic spinning technology. GF membranes were further cross-linked (GFL) for use in a mouse wound healing model. The physicochemical properties and biocompatibility of GS, GF, and GFL were evaluated. FTIR analysis revealed that GFL exhibited a more stable secondary structure compared to GS and GF. DSC and TGA results indicated that GFL had the highest thermal stability, followed by GF. Cytotoxicity tests confirmed that GS, GF, and GFL were non-cytotoxic, with GF showing the highest cell viability rate of 175.23 ± 1.77%. In the wound healing model, GFL group achieved nearly complete healing by day 14 (98 ± 0.1%), compared to 76.04 ± 0.01% in the blank group. Measurement of TGF-β1 and VEGF levels in the healing tissue on day 14 indicated that the GFL group had progressed to the late stage of healing, whereas the blank group remained in the early stage. These results suggest that GFL holds significant potential as a medical biomaterial for wound healing applications.

Advances in Bacterial Cellulose-Based Scaffolds for Tissue Engineering: Review

Bacterial cellulose (BC) has emerged as a highly versatile and promising biomaterial in tissue engineering, with potential applications across skin, bone, cartilage, and vascular regeneration. Its exceptional properties like high mechanical strength, superior biocompatibility, excellent moisture retention, and inherent ability to support cell adhesion and proliferation, make BC particularly effective for wound healing and skin regeneration. These attributes accelerate tissue repair and foster new tissue formation, highlighting its value in skin-related applications. Additionally, BC's capacity to support osteogenic differentiation, combined with its mechanical robustness, positions it as a strong candidate for bone tissue engineering, facilitating regeneration and repair. Recent advancements have emphasized the development of BC-based hybrid scaffolds to enhance tissue-specific functionalities, including vascularization and cartilage regeneration. These innovations aim to address the complex requirements of various tissue engineering applications. However, challenges remain, particularly regarding the scalability of BC production, cost-effectiveness, and the long-term stability of BC-based scaffolds. Such barriers continue to limit its broader clinical adoption. This review critically examines the synthesis methods, intrinsic properties, and recent innovations in the design of BC-based scaffolds, offering insights into their potential to revolutionize regenerative medicine. Furthermore, it addresses the key challenges and limitations that must be overcome to enable the clinical integration of BC. By addressing these limitations, BC could play a transformative role in advancing tissue engineering and regenerative therapies, bridging the gap between laboratory research and clinical application.

Electrospun Nanofibers from Plant Natural Products: A New Approach Toward Efficient Wound Healing

Globally, wound care has become a significant burden on public health, with annual medical costs reaching billions of dollars, particularly for the long-term treatment of chronic wounds. Traditional treatments, such as gauze and bandages, often fail to provide an ideal healing environment due to their lack of effective biological activity. Consequently, researchers have increasingly focused on developing new dressings. Among these, electrospinning technology has garnered considerable attention for its ability to produce nano-scale fine fibers. This new type of dressing, with its unique physical and chemical properties-especially in enhancing breathability, increasing specific surface area, optimising porosity, and improving flexibility-demonstrates significant advantages in promoting wound healing, reducing the risk of infection, and improving overall healing outcomes. Additionally, the application of natural products from plants in electrospinning technology further enhances the effectiveness of dressings. These natural products not only exhibit good biocompatibility but are also rich in pharmacologically active ingredients, such as antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant compounds. They can serve as both the substrate for nanofibers and as bioactive components, effectively promoting cell proliferation and tissue regeneration, thereby accelerating wound healing and reducing the risk of complications. This article reviews the application of plant natural product nanofibers prepared by electrospinning technology in wound healing, focussing on the development and optimisation of these nanofibers, discussing the advantages and challenges of using plant natural products in this technology, and outlining future research directions and application prospects in this field.

Development of quaternized agar-based materials for the coronavirus inactivation

The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed weaknesses in healthcare systems and underscored the need for advanced antimicrobial materials. This study investigates the quaternization of agar, a seaweed-derived polysaccharide, and the development of electrospun membranes for air filtration in facemasks and biomedical applications. Using the betacoronavirus MHV-3 as a model, quaternized agar and membranes achieved a 90-99.99 % reduction in viral load, without associated cytotoxicity. The quaternization process reduced the viscosity of the solution from 1.19 ± 0.005 to 0.64 ± 0.005 Pa.s and consequently the electrospun fiber diameter ranged from 360 to 185 nm. Membranes synthesized based on polyvinyl alcohol and thermally cross-linked with citric acid exhibited lower water permeability. Avoiding organic solvents in the electrospinning technique ensured eco-friendly production. This approach offers a promising way to develop biocompatible and functional materials for healthcare and environmental applications.

Nanocellulose-based hydrogels as versatile materials with interesting functional properties for tissue engineering applications

Tissue engineering has emerged as a remarkable field aiming to restore or replace damaged tissues through the use of biomimetic constructs. Among the diverse materials investigated for this purpose, nanocellulose-based hydrogels have garnered attention due to their intriguing biocompatibility, tunable mechanical properties, and sustainability. Over the past few years, numerous research works have been published focusing on the successful use of nanocellulose-based hydrogels as artificial extracellular matrices for regenerating various types of tissues. The review emphasizes the importance of tissue engineering, highlighting hydrogels as biomimetic scaffolds, and specifically focuses on the role of nanocellulose in composites that mimic the structures, properties, and functions of the native extracellular matrix for regenerating damaged tissues. It also summarizes the types of nanocellulose, as well as their structural, mechanical, and biological properties, and their contributions to enhancing the properties and characteristics of functional hydrogels for tissue engineering of skin, bone, cartilage, heart, nerves and blood vessels. Additionally, recent advancements in the application of nanocellulose-based hydrogels for tissue engineering have been evaluated and documented. The review also addresses the challenges encountered in their fabrication while exploring the potential future prospects of these hydrogel matrices for biomedical applications.

Fabrication of multifunctional facial masks from phenolic acid grafted chitosan/collagen peptides via aqueous electrospinning

Facial masks have become ubiquitous in our daily life to endow skin enough moisture and activated nutrition through mask nonwovens infused with skincare ingredients. However, the active nutrients in wet masks are prone to deterioration and deactivation. Herein, a novel multifunctional nanofiber dry mask was successfully prepared using aqueous-electrospun phenolic acid grafted chitosan/collagen peptides. When used, the functional nanofibers in the mask dissolve through spraying moisture, activating active ingredients in response to water and providing in-situ free radical scavenging, moisturizing and antibacterial effects to the skin. In this work, a series of gallic acid (GA), caffeic acid (CA), and protocatechuic acid (PA) have been studied to be grafted with chitosan to improve water solubility of chitosan (CS). Also, through aqueous electrospinning of phenolic acid-grafted chitosan/collagen peptides, a one-step green multifunctional nanofiber mask was obtained. The results showed that the mask had a 12.14 % moisturizing rate and a 94.09 % activity for removing free radicals from the skin after encountering moisture. Considering its high efficiency, controllable function release, and easy processability, the nanofiber multifunctional mask may provide a competitive alternative to facial masks and promote potential value-added applications of bio-based macro-molecules.

Degradation profiles of the poly(ε-caprolactone)/silk fibroin electrospinning membranes and their potential applications in tissue engineering

Degradation profiles are critical for the optimal application of electrospun polymer nanofibers in tissue regeneration, wound healing, and drug delivery systems. In this study, natural and synthetic polymers and their composites were subjected to in vivo transplantation and in vitro treatment with lipases, macrophages, and acetic acid to evaluate their degradation patterns. The effects of environmental stimulation, surface wettability, and polymer components on the degradation profiles of the electrospinning poly(ε-caprolactone)/silk fibroin (PCL/SF) nanofibers were first evaluated. In vivo degradation study demonstrated that bulk degradation, characterized by the transition from microfibers to nanofibers, and surface erosion, characterized by fusion between the microfibers or direct erosion from both ends of the microfibers, occurred in the electrospun membranes; however, bulk degradation dominated their overall degradation. Furthermore, the degradation rates of the electrospun PCL/SF membranes varied according to the composition, morphology, and surface wettability of the composite membranes. After the incorporation of silk fibroin (SF), the degradation rate of the SF/PCL composite membranes was faster, accompanied by larger values of weight loss and molecular weight (Mw) loss when compared with that of the pure poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) membrane, indicating a close relationship between degradation rate and hydrophilicity of the electrospinning membranes. The in vitro experimental results demonstrated that enzymes and oxidation partially resulted in the surface erosion of the PCL/SF microfibers. Consequently, bulk degradation and surface erosion coordinated with each other to enhance the hydrophilicity of the electrospinning membranes and accelerate the in vivo degradation.