Incorporating redox-sensitive nanogels into bioabsorbable nanofibrous membrane to acquire ROS-balance capacity for skin regeneration.

Zhang, Shihao; Li, Yamin; Qiu, Xiaofeng; Jiao, Anqi; Luo, Wei; Lin, Xiajie; Zhang, Xiaohui; Zhang, Zeren et al. · Bioact Mater · 2021

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

Facing the high incidence of skin diseases, it is urgent to develop functional materials with high bioactivity for wound healing, where reactive oxygen species (ROS) play an important role in the wound healing process mainly <i>via</i> adjustment of immune response and neovasculation. In this study, we developed a kind of bioabsorbable materials with ROS-mediation capacity for skin disease therapy. Firstly, redox-sensitive poly(N-isopropylacrylamide-acrylic acid) (PNA) nanogels were synthesized by radical emulsion polymerization method using a disulfide molecule as crosslinker. The resulting nanogels were then incorporated into the nanofibrous membrane of poly(<sub>l</sub>-lactic acid) (PLLA) <i>via</i> airbrushing approach to offer bioabsorbable membrane with redox-sensitive ROS-balance capacity. <i>In vitro</i> biological evaluation indicated that the PNA-contained bioabsorbable membrane improved cell adhesion and proliferation compared to the native PLLA membrane. <i>In vivo</i> study using mouse wound skin model demonstrated that PNA-doped nanofibrous membranes could promote the wound healing process, where the disulfide bonds in them were able to adjust the ROS level in the wound skin for mediation of redox potential to achieve higher wound healing efficacy.