Bacterial nanocellulose-loaded 3D-printed scaffolds for regenerative medicine

Introduction

Bacterial nanocellulose is a biocompatible and non-immunogenic biopolymer that offers several advantages for regenerative medicine such as high porosity and purity [1]. Therefore, adding bacterial cellulose nanofibers as part of 3D printing inks is being explored to manufacture adapted-to-patient biomaterials with advanced properties for tissue repair.

Methodology

In this work, bacterial cellulose nanofibers were manufactured by a well-established protocol from the bacterial strain K. xylinus [1 - 3] and were added to methylcellulose inks to fabricate 3D-printed scaffolds. Polyurea crosslinking and superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticle loading were explored to improve the performance of the biomaterials. Confocal, scanning and transmission electron microscopies, as well as printing fidelity and porosity analysis of the scaffolds, were performed. Cell studies with murine fibroblasts and hemolytic activity tests with human blood were also employed to biologically characterize the biomaterials.

Results and Discussion

Bacterial cellulose nanofibers were manufactured with a diameter close to 50 nm. Improved volume shrinkage and printing fidelity were observed after loading the bacterial nanocellulose into 3D-printed methylcellulose scaffolds. Doping with superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles and crosslinking with polyurea enhanced the physicochemical performance of the biocompatible formulations. The results obtained may motivate future research into the use of these biomaterials as soft tissue grafts.

Conclusions

Bacterial nanocellulose-loaded scaffolds exhibited good values of cell compatibility, hemolytic activity, porosity and printing fidelity. Polyurea crosslinking and superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticle loading improved the suitability of the biomaterials for regenerative medicine applications.

Acknowledgments

This work was funded by MICIU/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 [grants PID2023-151340OBI00, PDC2022-133526-I00 and PDC2023-145826-I00], Xunta de Galicia [ED431C2022/2023], ERDF/EU and European Union NextGenerationEU/PRTR. A. I.-M. acknowledges Xunta de Galicia for her postdoctoral fellowship [ED481B-2025/032].

References

[1] Malandain N et al, 2023, 10.1021/acsabm.3c00126.

[2] Iglesias-Mejuto et al, 2024, 10.1007/s10570-023-05601-1.

[3] Iglesias-Mejuto et al, 2025, 10.1021/acsami.5c08389.