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Abstract
Bacterial cellulose (BC) is a promising biopolymer with wound healing and tissue regenerative
properties but lack of antimicrobial property limits its biomedical applications.
Therefore, current study was proposed to combine wound healing property of BC with
antimicrobial activity of montmorillonite (MMT) and modified montmorillonites (Cu-MMT,
Na-MMT and Ca-MMT) to design novel artificial substitute for burns. Designed nanocomposites
were characterized through Fe-SEM, FTIR and XRD. The antimicrobial activities of composites
were tested against Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhimurium, Citrobacter fruendii,
Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus and Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus
aureus. Tissue regeneration and wound healing activities of the composites were assessed
in burn mice model. Physico-chemical characterization confirmed the loading of MMT
onto surface and BC matrix. Modified MMTs-BC nanocomposites showed clear inhibitory
zone against the tested pathogens. Animals treated with modified MMTs-BC nanocomposites
exhibited enhanced wound healing activity with tissue regeneration, reepithelialization,
healthy granulation and vascularization. These findings demonstrated that modified
MMTs-BC nanocomposites could be used as a novel artificial skin substitute for burn
patients and scaffold for skin tissue engineering.