Adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cell-loaded β-chitin nanofiber hydrogel promote wound healing in rats

• Published in: Journal of materials science. Materials in medicine Vol. 33; no. 2; p. 12
• Main Authors: Liu, Ying, Liu, Yunen, Wu, Mi, Zou, Rufei, Mao, Shun, Cong, Peifang, Hou, Mingxiao, Jin, Hongxu, Zhao, Yan, Bao, Yongli
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.02.2022; Springer Nature B.V; Springer
• Subjects: Adipocytes; Animals; Biocompatibility; Biocompatible Materials; Biomaterials; Biomedical Engineering and Bioengineering; Biomedical materials; Cell culture; Cell survival; Ceramics; Chemistry and Materials Science; Chitin; Chitin - chemistry; Collagen; Collagen (type I); Collagen (type III); Composites; Cytotoxicity; Exosomes; Fourier transforms; Glass; Granulation; Hydrogels; Hydrogels - chemistry; Hydrogels - pharmacology; Infrared spectroscopy; Materials Science; Mesenchymal stem cells; Mesenchymal Stem Cells - physiology; Nanofibers; Nanofibers - chemistry; Natural Materials; Neutralization; Original Research; Phosphorylation; Polymer Sciences; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Regenerative Medicine/Tissue Engineering; Scanning electron microscopy; Smad protein; Stem cell transplantation; Stem cells; Surfaces and Interfaces; Thin Films; Tissue Engineering Constructs and Cell Substrates; Tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase 1; Tissue Scaffolds; Toxicity; Vascular endothelial growth factor receptors; Wound healing; Wound Healing - drug effects; X-ray diffraction
• ISSN: 0957-4530; 1573-4838
• DOI: 10.1007/s10856-021-06630-7

Because of stem cells are limited by the low efficiency of their cell homing and survival in vivo, cell delivery systems and scaffolds have attracted a great deal of attention for stem cells’ successful clinical practice. β-chitin nanofibers (β-ChNF) were prepared from squid pens in this study. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy proved that β-ChNFs with the diameter of 5 to 10 nm were prepared. β-ChNF dispersion became gelled upon the addition of cell culture medium. Cell culture experiments showed that β-ChNFs exhibited negligible cytotoxicity towards ADSCs and L929 cells, and it was found that more exosomes were secreted by the globular ADSCs grown in the β-ChNF hydrogel. The vivo experiments of rats showed that the ADSCs-loaded β-ChNF hydrogel could directly cover the wound surface and significantly accelerate the wound healing and promote the generation of epithelization, granulation tissue and collagen. In addition, the ADSCs-loaded β-ChNF hydrogel clearly regulated the expressions of VEGFR, α-SMA, collagen I and collagen III. Finally, we showed that ADSCs-loaded β-ChNF hydrogel activated the TGFβ/smad signaling. The neutralization of TGFβ markedly reduced Smad phosphorylation and the expressions of TIMP1, VEGFR and α-SMA. Taken together, these findings suggest that ADSCs-loaded β-ChNF hydrogel promises for treating wounds that are challenge to heal via conventional methods. Graphical abstract