International Journal of Nanomedicine (Feb 2020)
Multi-Layered Polyamide/Collagen Scaffolds with Topical Sustained Release of N-Acetylcysteine for Promoting Wound Healing
Abstract
Jinfei Hou,1,2,* Lifeng Chen,1,2,* Muran Zhou,1,2 Jialun Li,1,2 Jian Liu,1,2 Huimin Fang,1,2 Yuyang Zeng,1,2 Jiaming Sun,1,2 Zhenxing Wang1,2 1Department of Plastic Surgery, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430022, People’s Republic of China; 2Wuhan Clinical Research Center for Superficial Organ Reconstruction, Wuhan 430022, China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Jiaming Sun; Zhenxing Wang Email [email protected]; [email protected]: Impaired wound healing might be associated with many issues, especially overactive of reactive oxygen species (ROS), deficiency of blood vessels and immature of epidermis. N-acetylcysteine (NAC), as an antioxidant, could solve these problems by inhibiting overreactive of ROS, promoting revascularization and accelerating re-epithelialization. How to deliver NAC in situ with a controllable releasing speed still remain a challenge.Materials and Methods: In this study, we combined collagen (Col) with N-acetylcysteine to perform the characteristics of sustained release and chemically crosslinked Col/NAC composite with polyamide (PA) nanofibers to enhance the mechanical property of collagen and fabricated this multi-layered scaffold (PA-Col/NAC scaffold). The physical properties of the scaffolds such as surface characteristics, water absorption and tensile modulus were tested. Meanwhile, the ability to promote wound healing in vitro and in vivo were investigated.Results: These scaffolds were porous and performed great water absorption. The PA-Col/NAC scaffold could sustainably release NAC for at least 14 days. After cell implantation, PA-Col/NAC scaffold showed better cell proliferation and cell migration than the other groups. In vivo, PA-Col/NAC scaffolds could promote wound healing best among all the groups.Conclusion: The multi-layered scaffolds could obviously accelerate the process of wound healing and exert better and prolonged effects.Keywords: polyamide, sustained release, N-acetylcysteine, wound healing, multi-layered structure