Collagen-Based Nanofibers for Skin Regeneration and Wound Dressing Applications

Abstract

Skin regeneration after an injury is very vital, but this process can be impeded by several factors. Regenerative medicine is a developing biomedical field with the potential to decrease the need for an organ transplant. Wound management is challenging, particularly for chronic injuries, despite the availability of various types of wound dressing scaffolds in the market. Some of the wound dressings that are in clinical practice have various drawbacks such as poor antibacterial and antioxidant efficacy, poor mechanical properties, inability to absorb excess wound exudates, require frequent change of dressing and fails to offer a suitable moist environment to accelerate the wound healing process. Collagen is a biopolymer and a major constituent of the extracellular matrix (ECM), making it an interesting polymer for the development of wound dressings. Collagen-based nanofibers have demonstrated interesting properties that are advantageous both in the arena of skin regeneration and wound dressings, such as low antigenicity, good biocompatibility, hemostatic properties, capability to promote cellular proliferation and adhesion, and non-toxicity. Hence, this review will discuss the outcomes of collagen-based nanofibers reported from the series of preclinical trials of skin regeneration and wound healing.

Dual Spinneret Electrospun Polyurethane/PVA-Gelatin Nanofibrous Scaffolds Containing Cinnamon Essential Oil and Nanoceria for Chronic Diabetic Wound Healing: Preparation, Physicochemical Characterization and In-Vitro Evaluation

“…As shown, the porosity of the NFs was recorded in the range 73.5–79.6%, where the porosity decreased by incorporation of nCeO 2 and CEO. This was reported in previous studies, which observed that the incorporated bioactive agents into the polymer-based NFs decreased their porosity compared to the non-loaded NFs [ 58 ]. According to previous studies, engineered membranes with 60–90% porosity could be suitable for tissue regeneration where such a porosity range is ideal to facilitate cell penetration and proliferation at their structure [ 2 ].…”

A review of current advancements for wound healing: Biomaterial applications and medical devices

“…GF-loaded electrospun fibers can be achieved by incorporating GFs into the polymeric nanofibers 118 or conjugating them onto the surface. 119 The difference in the GF loading strategies determines a variation in GF release profiles. There was a novel approach proposed by Kulkarni et al in 2014.…”

“…Electrospinning is a popular technique to produce nanofibers with controlled‐release GFs. GF‐loaded electrospun fibers can be achieved by incorporating GFs into the polymeric nanofibers 118 or conjugating them onto the surface 119 . The difference in the GF loading strategies determines a variation in GF release profiles.…”

Gellan Gum in Wound Dressing Scaffolds

“…Two important advantages of electrospun nanofibrous scaffolds are their large available surface area, efficient functionalization, and the possibility of formulating them from a broad variety of natural and synthetic polymers [ 79 , 80 ]. Other benefits of electrospun nanofibers that can contribute to skin regeneration and wound healing applications include high porosity, small diameter, gas permeation, and narrow diameter distribution [ 81 , 82 ]. Some researchers have reported the pre-clinical outcomes of gellan gum-based nanofibers for the treatment of wounds.…”