Bacterial cellulose membrane superficially modified by plasma for tissue engineering application

Abstract

According to the state of art of regenerative medicine, the use of biopolymers in tissue engineering (TE) has been used daily in the biomedical filed. However, the use of the biomaterial in this field depends on physicochemical properties of substrate, which will influence the interactions between cells and the material employed as interaction with the organism which its employed. The bacterial cellulose (BC), which has been used in a variety of medical applications, presents excellent malleability, hydrophilicity, mechanical resistance and biocompatibility which guarantees its potential in tissue engineering as a temporary substitute for skin, as a support for drug interactions and for tissue growth. Therefore, success in using of this substrate is depends of cellularization on its surface, cellular viability, and no toxicity to the organism. Plasma superficial treatment have been used as economical and efficient way of adjusting the physical properties of a biomaterial, being used to improve the condition of cell adhesion and proliferation through insertion of its chemical groups at the treated area. Thus, in order to guarantee cell adhesion and proliferation control, the present work aims to evaluate the cellularization on a bacterial cellulose membrane surface that has been modified by Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition (PECVD) technique. Different treatment times with oxygen plasma will be used in cellulose. The samples will be characterized by physicochemical tests, cell viability and quantification of the surface mineralization at the end of each culture period.