Abstract
Biomaterials traditionally used for wound healing can act as a temporary barrier to halt bleeding, prevent infection, and enhance regeneration. Hydrogels are among the best candidates for wound healing owing to their moisture retention and drug-releasing properties. Photo-polymerization using visible light irradiation is a promising method for hydrogel preparation since it can easily control spatiotemporal reaction kinetics and rapidly induce a single-step reaction under mild conditions. In this study, photocrosslinked gelatin hydrogels were imparted with properties namely fast wound adherence, strong wet tissue surface adhesion, greater biocompatibility, long-term bFGF release, and importantly, ease of use through the modification and combination of natural bio-macromolecules. The production of a gelatin hydrogel made of natural gelatin (which is superior to chemically modified gelatin), crosslinked by visible light, which is more desirable than UV light irradiation, will enable its prolonged application to uneven wound surfaces. This is due to its flexible shape, along with the administration of cell growth factors, such as bFGF, for tissue regeneration. Further, the sustained release of bFGF enhances wound healing and skin flap survival. The photocrosslinking gelatin hydrogel designed in this study is a potential candidate to enhance wound healing and better skin flap survival.
Highlights
Biomaterials traditionally used for wound healing can act as a temporary barrier to halt bleeding, prevent infection, and enhance regeneration
Natural gelatin is suitable as a hydrogel wound dressing due to its capacity for the sustained, long-term release of various cell growth factors, such as basic fibroblast growth factor34,35. bFGF plays a crucial role in the wound healing process by promoting fibroblast proliferation, inducing neovascularization, and increasing collagen synthesis[36]
This study, to the best of our knowledge, is the first to demonstrate that diabetic wound healing and survival rates of skin flaps can be enhanced using hydrogels with rapid gelling and sustained bFGF release properties. bFGF-containing hydrogels have a great potential use for wound healing and skin flap formation
Summary
Biomaterials traditionally used for wound healing can act as a temporary barrier to halt bleeding, prevent infection, and enhance regeneration. The production of a gelatin hydrogel made of natural gelatin (which is superior to chemically modified gelatin), crosslinked by visible light, which is more desirable than UV light irradiation, will enable its prolonged application to uneven wound surfaces This is due to its flexible shape, along with the administration of cell growth factors, such as bFGF, for tissue regeneration. The cross-linking methods, based on chemical and physical linkages, are used to prepare hydrogels that are injectable[25,26] These hydrogels exhibit relatively higher mechanical property and more suitable physicochemical properties ensuing greater durability over time due to stable covalent bonds[27]. The topical application of human recombinant bFGF is effective in wound healing in clinical s ettings[37,38], its frequent application is required for wound healing because of its short half-life in the body
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