Structural and Functional Design of Electrospun Nanofibers for Hemostasis and Wound Healing

Designing wound dressing materials with outstanding therapeutic effects, self-healing, adhesiveness and suitable mechanical property has great practical significance in healthcare, especially for joints skin wound healing. Here, we designed a kind of self-healing injectable micelle/hydrogel composites with multi-functions as wound dressing for joint skin damage. By combining the dynamic Schiff base and copolymer micelle cross-linking in one system, a series of hydrogels were prepared by mixing quaternized chitosan (QCS) and benzaldehyde-terminated Pluronic®F127 (PF127-CHO) under physiological conditions. The inherent antibacterial property, pH-dependent biodegradation and release behavior were investigated to confirm multi-functions of wound dressing. The hydrogel dressings showed suitable stretchable and compressive property, comparable modulus with human skin, good adhesiveness and fast self-healing ability to bear deformation. The hydrogels exhibited efficient hemostatic performance and biocompatibility. Moreover, the curcumin loaded hydrogel showed good antioxidant ability and pH responsive release profiles. In vivo experiments indicated that curcumin loaded hydrogels significantly accelerated wound healing rate with higher granulation tissue thickness and collagen disposition and upregulated vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in a full-thickness skin defect model. Taken together, the antibacterial adhesive hydrogels with self-healing and good mechanical property offer significant promise as dressing materials for joints skin wound healing.

Hydrogels, due to their excellent biochemical and mechnical property, have shown attractive advantages in the field of wound dressings. However, a comprehensive review of the functional hydrogel as a wound dressing is still lacking. This work first summarizes the skin wound healing process and relates evaluation parameters and then reviews the advanced functions of hydrogel dressings such as antimicrobial property, adhesion and hemostasis, anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidation, substance delivery, self-healing, stimulus response, conductivity, and the recently emerged wound monitoring feature, and the strategies adopted to achieve these functions are all classified and discussed. Furthermore, applications of hydrogel wound dressing for the treatment of different types of wounds such as incisional wound and the excisional wound are summarized. Chronic wounds are also mentioned, and the focus of attention on infected wounds, burn wounds, and diabetic wounds is discussed. Finally, the future directions of hydrogel wound dressings for wound healing are further proposed.

Electrospinning is a simple and versatile technique that relies on the electrostatic repulsion between surface charges to continuously draw nanofibers from a viscoelastic fluid. It has been applied to successfully produce nanofibers, with diameters down to tens of nanometers, from a rich variety of materials, including polymers, ceramics, small molecules, and their combinations. In addition to solid nanofibers with a smooth surface, electrospinning has also been adapted to generate nanofibers with a number of secondary structures, including those characterized by a porous, hollow, or core-sheath structure. The surface and/or interior of such nanofibers can be further functionalized with molecular species or nanoparticles during or after an electrospinning process. In addition, electrospun nanofibers can be assembled into ordered arrays or hierarchical structures by manipulation of their alignment, stacking, and/or folding. All of these attributes make electrospun nanofibers well-suited for a broad spectrum of applications, including those related to air filtration, water purification, heterogeneous catalysis, environmental protection, smart textiles, surface coating, energy harvesting/conversion/storage, encapsulation of bioactive species, drug delivery, tissue engineering, and regenerative medicine. Over the past 15 years, our group has extensively explored the use of electrospun nanofibers for a range of applications. Here we mainly focus on two examples: (i) use of ceramic nanofibers as catalytic supports for noble-metal nanoparticles and (ii) exploration of polymeric nanofibers as scaffolding materials for tissue regeneration. Because of their high porosity, high surface area to volume ratio, well-controlled composition, and good thermal stability, nonwoven membranes made of ceramic nanofibers are terrific supports for catalysts based on noble-metal nanoparticles. We have investigated the use of ceramic nanofibers made of various oxides, including SiO2, TiO2, SnO2, CeO2, and ZrO2, as supports for heterogeneous catalysts based on noble metals such as Au, Pt, Pd, and Rh. On the other hand, the diameter, composition, alignment, porosity, and surface properties of polymeric nanofibers can be engineered in a controllable fashion to mimic the hierarchical architecture of an extracellular matrix and help manipulate cell behaviors for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. To this end, we can mimic the native structure and morphology of the extracellular matrix in tendon using uniaxially aligned nanofibers; we can use radially aligned nanofibers to direct the migration of cells from the periphery to the center in an effort to speed up wound healing; and we can also use uniaxially aligned nanofibers to guide and expedite the extension of neurites for peripheral nerve repair. Furthermore, we can replicate the anatomic structures at the tendon-to-bone insertion using nanofiber scaffolds with graded mineral coatings. In this Account, we aim to demonstrate the unique capabilities of electrospun nanofibers as porous supports for heterogeneous catalysis and as functional scaffolds for tissue regeneration by concentrating on some of the recent results.