Stimulatory Effect of Hexagonal Boron Nitrides in Wound Healing

Abstract

There is an increased interest in the use of hexagonal boron nitrides (hBNs) in medicine due to their unique properties that include low toxicity, absorption of UV light and neutrons, high chemical stability, and mechanical strength. In this study, hBNs were investigated for wound healing therapy as a potential therapeutic agent. Boron compounds (especially boric acid) are increasingly used in wound healing therapy; however, their short half-life is a bottleneck and limits their use. Because hBNs slowly degrade and one of the degradation products is boric acid (BA), hBNs and BA were comparatively evaluated in vitro to assess their influence on wound healing. First, antimicrobial activity and cytotoxicity of synthesized hBNs were evaluated for dose determination. Then, the results of scratch assay indicated that hBNs accelerated the wound closure at low concentrations, showing also enhanced angiogenic activity compared to BA. The cell cycle analysis showed that hBNs did not arrest the cells in the G2/M phase but induced the cells to go into S phase, whereas BA had almost no effect on the cell proliferation. It was also found that the hBNs decreased the reactive oxygen species level more than BA. Apoptosis/necrosis assay showed that the hBNs rescued the cells from apoptosis, whereas BA had almost no effect on the cell death mechanism. Beside, hBNs did not cause damage to the mitochondria at low concentration and did not perturb the F-actin conformation at all tested concentrations. These findings suggest that hBNs might be a potential therapeutic agent in wound healing therapy.

Interactions Between 2D Materials and Living Matter: A Review on Graphene and Hexagonal Boron Nitride Coatings

“…Angiogenesis ability of HUVECs treated with hBN showed promising results. Additionally, it was found that hBN might also improve the wound healing process by lowering ROS due to its antioxidant capacity, similarly to BA; it was found that hBN can rescue cells from apoptosis, and that at low concentrations, it did not depolarize the mitochondria nor disrupt F-actin formation ( Şen et al, 2019 ).…”

“…Having analogous structure but insulating electrical behavior, hBN is sometimes referred to as “white graphene.” hBN features properties such as high hydrophobicity, thermal insulation, electrical insulation, low dielectric constant, resistance to oxidation, high chemical stability, and mechanical strength ( Mahvash et al, 2017 ; Chilkoor et al, 2018 ; Merlo et al, 2018 ; Emanet et al, 2019 ; Mukheem et al, 2019 ). Due to these properties, 2D BN-based materials have also demonstrated potential in antibacterial coatings ( Mukheem et al, 2019 ), as well as applications in the biomedical field – such as wound healing ( Şen et al, 2019 ), and bone tissue regeneration ( Şen et al, 2019 ; Aki et al, 2020 ).…”

“…Graphene and hBN have been recently found to induce specific cellular responses in different contexts. Taking into consideration the issues related to bacterial infection and the relevance of degenerative diseases, the different biological interactions of these materials can be exploited toward the following aims: (1) inducing bacterial cell death, e.g., to design medical instruments and mitigate the spreading of infections in hospital environment, and to produce anti-biofouling coatings ( Parra et al, 2015c , 2017 ; Zurob et al, 2019 ); (2) stimulating cellular growth, such as in the case of tissue engineering, wound healing, and bone tissue regeneration ( Fernandes et al, 2019 ; Şen et al, 2019 ; Aki et al, 2020 ). Devices such as epidermal electronics, intra-cortical implants for sensing and brain tissue regeneration require intimate contact with biological systems.…”

Modulation of Cellular Response to Different Parameters of the Rotating Magnetic Field (RMF)—An In Vitro Wound Healing Study

“…Moreover, wound healing assays were performed to determine the modulatory cellular response to RMF on wound closure efficiency. L929 and HaCaT were grown in 24-well plates at a density of 1 × 10 6 per well and were incubated for 24-h. Then, linear scratches were made in the confluent L929 and HaCaT monolayer cultures with a sterile p100 pipet tip [78,79]. Then, cells were immediately rinsed with DPBS to remove cellular debris, and images of the scratches were taken (at t = 0 h) using the digital camera (NIS Elements F Package version 4.00.06, camera Nikon DS-Fi1, Nikon, Melville, NY, USA) connected to the inverted microscope Nikon TS-100 (Nikon, Melville, NY, USA).…”

Synthesis and Characterization of Bionanomaterials and Evaluation of Their Antioxidant, Antibacterial, and DNA Cleavage Activities

“…[5] Moreover, Şen et al have studied the antimicrobial activity of the hBNs for the wound healing process and found that the hBNs show the antimicrobial activity on Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. [6] L-3,4 dihydroxyphenylalanine (L-dopa) has so many applications in medicine and food industry and has a phenolic structure belonging to the catecholamine family derived from tyrosine. It has been shown to be an effective scavenger of superoxide and hydroxyl radicals found naturally in all aerobic organisms.…”