Bacterial Cellulose Nanofibrillar Patch as a Wound Healing Platform of Tympanic Membrane Perforation.

Abstract

Bacterial cellulose (BC)-based biomaterials on medical device platforms have gained significant interest for tissue-engineered scaffolds or engraftment materials in regenerative medicine. In particular, BC has an ultrafine and highly pure nanofibril network structure and can be used as an efficient wound-healing platform since cell migration into a wound site is strongly meditated by the structural properties of the extracellular matrix. Here, we report the fabrication of a nanofibrillar patch by using BC and its application as a new wound-healing platform for traumatic tympanic membrane (TM) perforation. TM perforation is a very common clinical problem worldwide and presents as conductive hearing loss and chronic perforations. The BC nanofibrillar patch can be synthesized from Gluconacetobacter xylinus; it was found that the patch contained a network of nanofibrils and was transparent. The thickness of the BC nanofibrillar patch was found to be approximately 10.33 ± 0.58 μm, and the tensile strength and Young's modulus of the BC nanofibrillar patch were 11.85 ± 2.43 and 11.90 ± 0.48 MPa, respectively, satisfying the requirements of an ideal wound-healing platform for TM regeneration. In vitro studies involving TM cells showed that TM cell proliferation and migration were stimulated under the guidance of the BC nanofibrillar patch. In vivo animal studies demonstrated that the BC nanofibrillar patch promotes the rate of TM healing as well as aids in the recovery of TM function. Our data demonstrate that the BC nanofibrillar patch is a useful wound-healing platform for TM perforation.