Bioactive Nanomaterials for Enhanced Wound Healing

Abstract

Wound healing has become a significant problem for patients, doctors and the US health care system, affecting millions of people and costing billions of dollars. Several biodegradable and non‐toxic materials are under research to develop a biomolecular environment for wounds that will enhance the healing process. One of the methods is developing a polyelectrolyte nanofilm multilayer's (PNMs) as a nanocoating on the surface of the wound embedded with growth factors. The PNMs is developed using an ultrasonic nebulizer (UN) by spraying oppositely charged polyelectrolytes over the skin (Epiderm full thickness which is a human skin equivalent). By using UN we can control rate of deposition/concentration, time, and thickness of PNMs. Oppositely charged, Poly‐L‐Glutamic acid (PGA) and Poly‐L‐Lysine (PLL) served as a basic architecture for the nanofilm in which platelet derived growth factor (PDGF‐B) and insulin like growth factor (IGF‐1) were incorporated in deep (D), double (DL), and combined layer (CL). PNMs embedded with PDGF and IGF showed increased epithelization, connective tissue formation, and collagen deposition when compared with the controls. These results suggest that PNMs act as a bioactive and biodegradable drug delivery system to enhance the wound healing process.Research support: Governor's Biotechnology Initiative.