Evaluation of peptide nanogels for accelerated wound healing in normal micropigs

Abstract

Non-healing chronic wounds are severe complications, which can often eventually lead to amputations. As such, there is a clear clinical need for dressings that promote the healing of chronic wounds. An advanced wound dressing aims to keep wound tissues moist while offering increased healing rates, preventing scar formation, reducing pain, minimizing infection, improving cosmetics, and lowering overall health care costs. We have previously developed tetrameric peptides Ac-IVZK-NH 2 (Ac-Ile-Val-Cha-Lys-NH 2 ) and Ac-IVFK-NH 2 (Ac-Ile-Val-Phe-Lys-NH 2 ) that self-assemble into nanofibrous hydrogels with biomimetic properties resembling those of collagen. In our study, we tested if these nanogels can fulfill the wound healing criteria mentioned above, and found that the nanogels are suitable scaffolds for encapsulating human dermal fibroblasts. We selected peptide nanogels Ac-IVZK-NH 2 and Ac-IVFK-NH 2 and produced silver nanoparticles in situ within the nanogels to assess their efficacy on micropigs with full-thickness excision wounds. The in situ generation of the silver nanoparticles was done solely through UV irradiation, no reducing agent was used. Application of the peptide nanogels on full thickness micropig wounds demonstrated that the scaffolds are biocompatible and did not trigger wound inflammation. This suggests that the scaffolds are safe for topical application. A comparison of the effect of both nanogels-even without the addition of the silver nanoparticles, revealed that the scaffold itself has a high potential to act as an antibacterial agent, which may suppress both the inflammatory reaction and the activity of proteases. Interestingly, the effect on wound closure of the peptide nanogels was comparable to those of standard care hydrogels. Despite our promising results, there is still much to learn about the molecular basis underlying the efficacy of tetrameric peptide nanogels in wound healing. This will support the urgent demand for advanced treatments of diabetic wounds, based on scientifically and clinically validated studies.

Supramolecular Biopolymers for Tissue Engineering

“…Moreover, smart novel materials offer a variety of biochemical cues and physicochemical properties useful for the development of specific materials for TE. Some of these materials have already been studied under in vivo conditions, such as the self-healing peptide-based hydrogel from Tondera et al [184], which did not trigger any inflammatory response when injected in mice, or a peptide-based wound dressing developed by our group [185] which not only presumably suppressed inflammatory reactions but also allowed accelerated wound healing. This suggests that the development of designer supramolecular biopolymers composed of peptides and nucleic acids may bring us closer to optimized healthcare technologies.…”

Green Synthesis of Silver-Peptide Nanoparticles Generated by the Photoionization Process for Anti-Biofilm Application

“…The absorbance of each well at 540 nm was determined using a PHERAstar FS plate reader. 35 The mentioned concentration of IVFK/Ag NPs in this experiment is the initial concentration of silver nitrate used to generate IVFK/Ag NPs.…”

Engineered Microgels—Their Manufacturing and Biomedical Applications

“…The hydrogels made from the peptides are biocompatible, thermally stable and mechanically stiff [ 98 ]. In addition, the well-defined chemistry of the hydrogels makes them suited to be used as scaffolds that allow pluripotent stem cells to maintain pluripotency and then be used in bioprinting or as organoid cultures [ 102 , 103 , 104 ]. Cell viability was also shown with primary human corneal cells, as well as epithelial cells, when seeded onto the peptide hydrogel [ 105 ].…”