No abstract

To accelerate the healing processes in wound repair, attempts have been repeatedly made to use growth factors including thrombin and its peptide fragments. Unfortunately, the employment of thrombin is limited because of its high liability and pro-inflammatory actions at high concentrations. Some cellular effects of thrombin in wound healing are mediated by the activation of protease activated receptor-1 (PAR-1). The thrombin receptor agonist peptide (TRAP:SFLLRN) activates this receptor and mimics the effects of thrombin, but TRAP is a relatively weak agonist. We speculated that the encapsulated peptide may be more effective for PAR-1 activation than nonimmobilized peptide and developed a novel method for TRAP encapsulation in hydrogel films based on natural and synthetic polymers. The effects of an encapsulated TRAP in composite poly(N-vinyl caprolactam)-calcium alginate (PVCL) hydrogel films were investigated in a mouse model of wound healing. On day 7 the wound sizes decreased by about 60% under TRAP-chitosan-containing PVCL films, as compared with control films without TRAP. In the case of TRAP-polylysine-containing films no significant decrease in wound sizes was found. The fibroblast/macrophage ratio increased under TRAP-containing films on day 3 and on day 7. The number of proliferating fibroblasts increased to 150% under TRAP-chitosan films on day 7 as compared with control films. The number of [3H]-thymidine labeled endothelial and epithelial cells in granulation tissues was also enhanced. Thus, the immobilized TRAP to PVCL-chitosan hydrogel films were found to promote wound healing following the stimulation of fibroblast and epithelial cell proliferation and neovascularization. Furthermore, TRAP was shown to inhibit the secretion of the inflammatory mediator PAF from stimulated rat peritoneal mast cells due to augmentation of NO release from the mast cells. The encapsulated TRAP is suggested to accelerate wound healing due to the anti-inflammatory effects and earlier development of the proliferative phase of wound healing.

No abstract

Blood coagulation plays a key role among numerous mediating systems that are activated in inflammation. Receptors of the PAR family serve as sensors of serine proteinases of the blood clotting system in the target cells involved in inflammation. Activation of PAR-1 by thrombin and of PAR-2 by factor Xa leads to a rapid expression and exposure on the membrane of endothelial cells of both adhesive proteins that mediate an acute inflammatory reaction and of the tissue factor that initiates the blood coagulation cascade. Certain other receptors (EPR-1, thrombomodulin, etc.), which can modulate responses of the cells activated by proteinases through PAR receptors, are also involved in the association of coagulation and inflammation together with the receptors of the PAR family. The presence of PAR receptors on mast cells is responsible for their reactivity to thrombin and factor Xa and defines their contribution to the association of inflammation and blood clotting processes.