Selected Grantee Publications

A Pulsatile Release Platform Based on Photo-Induced Imine-Crosslinking Hydrogel Promotes Scarless Wound Healing

Zhang et al., Nature Communications. 2021.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33723267/

Skin wound healing is a dynamic and interactive process involving the collaborative efforts of growth factors, extracellular matrix (ECM), and different tissue and cell lineages. Although accumulating studies with a range of different model systems have increased our understanding of the cellular and molecular basis underlying skin scar formation, they have not been effectively translated to therapy. Development of effective therapeutic approaches for skin scar management is urgently needed. In this study, team of investigators devise a water-oil-water double emulsion strategy to encapsulate proteins within a photo-crosslinkable poly-lactic-co-glycolic acid (PLGA) shell, which can produce microcapsules with pulsatile drug release kinetics after administration. The results show that pulsatile release of the TGF-β inhibitor can accelerate skin wound closure while suppressing scarring in murine skin wounds and large animal preclinical models, suggesting that it could be an effective approach to achieve scarless wound healing in skin. Supported by ORIP (R01OD023700).