title: Engineering microporosity in bacterial cellulose scaffolds.
abstract: The scaffold is an essential component in tissue engineering. A novel method to prepare three-dimensional (3D) nanofibril network scaffolds with controlled microporosity has been developed. By placing paraffin wax and starch particles of various sizes in a growing culture of Acetobacter xylinum, bacterial cellulose scaffolds of different morphologies and interconnectivity were prepared. Paraffin particles were incorporated throughout the scaffold, while starch particles were found only in the outermost area of the resulting scaffold. The porogens were successfully removed after culture with bacteria and no residues were detected with electron spectroscopy for chemical analysis (ESCA) or Fourier transform infra-red spectroscopy (FT-IR). Resulting scaffolds were seeded with smooth muscle cells (SMCs) and investigated using histology and organ bath techniques. SMC were selected as the cell type since the main purpose of the resulting scaffolds is for tissue engineered blood vessels. SMCs attached to and proliferated on and partly into the scaffolds.
authors.affiliation: Biopolymer Technology, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology, SE-412 96 Göteborg, Sweden.
authors.forename: Henrik
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Bäckdahl
authors.forename: Maricris
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Esguerra
authors.forename: Dick
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Delbro
authors.forename: Bo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Risberg
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gatenholm
mesh_terms: D002478:Cells, Cultured; D002482:Cellulose / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D005285:Fermentation; D041822:Gluconacetobacter xylinus / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D032389:Myocytes, Smooth Muscle; D016062:Porosity; D011198:Solanum tuberosum / Q000378:metabolism; D017550:Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared; D013718:Tensile Strength; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000379:methods*; D054457:Tissue Scaffolds / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D002482:Cellulose