A biological antimicrobial agent functionalized bacterial cellulose-based wound dressing

Bacterial cellulose (BC) is a promising biomaterial that has been widely used for wound healing. However, the lack of antimicrobial properties limits its biological applications. Herein, a BC-based wound dressing with a biological antimicrobial agent was developed. The process involved in situ cultivation of BC by adding carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC), subsequently it was combined with cationic antibacterial agent epsilon-poly-L-lysine (PLL) through covalent bonding with CMC. The prepared hydrogel showed a nano-porous structure, proper mechanical properties (120 kPa) and desired swelling capacity (over 1000%). It also exhibited superior antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) bacteria. From in vitro biological experiments, BC/CMC/PLL presented good biocompatibility containing cell proliferation and cell spreading. The resulting BC/CMC/PLL will be one of the competitive wound dressings for preventing infection.