Abstract
A hollow-type spherical bacterial cellulose (HSBC) gel prepared using conventional methods cannot load particles larger than the pore size of the cellulose nanofiber network of bacterial cellulose (BC) gelatinous membranes. In this study, we prepared a HSBC gel encapsulating target substances larger than the pore size of the BC gelatinous membranes using two encapsulating methods. The first method involved producing the BC gelatinous membrane on the surface of the core that was a spherical alginate gel with a diameter of 2 to 3 mm containing the target substances. With this method, the BC gelatinous membrane was biosynthesized using Gluconacetobacter xylinus at the interface between the cell suspension attached onto the alginate gel and the silicone oil. The second method involved producing the BC gel membrane on the interface between the silicone oil and cell suspension, as well as the spherical alginate gel with a diameter of about 1 mm containing target substances. After the BC gelatinous membrane was biosynthesized, an alginate gel was dissolved in a phosphate buffer to prepare an HSBC gel with the target substances. These encapsulated substances could neither pass through the BC gelatinous membrane of the HSBC gel nor leak from the interior space of the HSBC gel. These results suggest that the HSBC gel had a molecular sieving function. The HSBC gel walls prepared using these methods were observed to be uniform and would be useful for encapsulating bioactive molecules, such as immobilized enzymes in HSBC gel, which is expected to be used as a drug carrier.
Highlights
Since bacterial cellulose (BC) biosynthesized using Acetobacter xylinum was first discovered [1], it has been used in various practical applications [2,3,4,5]
Various molecules that are smaller than the pore size of the cellulose nanofiber network can permeate the gelatinous membrane of the hollow-type spherical bacterial cellulose (HSBC) gel according to Fickian diffusion [16]
When the Ca-Alg gel was dissolved using phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) [30] after washing with ethanol, a hole unexpectedly appeared in the BC gelatinous membrane of the HSBC gel due to swelling of the Ca-Alg gel (Figure 6a)
Summary
Since bacterial cellulose (BC) biosynthesized using Acetobacter xylinum was first discovered [1], it has been used in various practical applications [2,3,4,5]. Various molecules that are smaller than the pore size of the cellulose nanofiber network can permeate the gelatinous membrane of the HSBC gel according to Fickian diffusion [16]. In the present study aiming at encapsulating cells, we prepared an HSBC gel encapsulating substances larger than the pore size of BC gelatinous membranes. The first method involved producing the BC gelatinous membrane on the surface of a spherical alginate gel with a diameter of 2 to 3 mm containing target substances to be encapsulated in the HSBC gel (Figure 1, Method A). The second method involved producing the BC gel membrane on the interface between a silicone oil and a cell suspension, as well as a spherical alginate gel with a diameter of about 1 mm containing target substances (Figure 1, Method B).
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