Wound Healing and Cell Biology Laboratory, Institute of Basic Medical Science, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, 100853, China.
Laboratory Animal Center, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, 100853, China.
Sci China Life Sci. 2020 Apr;63(4):552-562. doi: 10.1007/s11427-018-9389-6. Epub 2019 Jan 28.
Small molecules loaded into biological materials present a promising strategy for stimulating endogenous repair mechanisms for in situ skin regeneration. Lithium can modulate various biologic processes, promoting proliferation, angiogenesis, and decreasing inflammation. However, its role in skin repair is rarely reported. In this study, we loaded lithium chloride (LiCl) into the chitosan (CHI) hydrogel and develop a sterile and biocompatible sponge scaffold through freeze-drying. In-vitro assessment demonstrated that the CHI-LiCl composite scaffolds (CLiS) possessed favorable cytocompatibility, swelling and biodegradation. We created full-thickness skin wounds in male C57BL/c mice to evaluate the healing capacity of CLiS. Compared with the wounds of control and CHI scaffold (CS) groups, the wounds in the CLiS-treated group showed reduced inflammation, improved angiogenesis, accelerated re-epithelialization, sustained high expression of β-catenin with a small amount of regenerated hair follicles. Therefore, CLiS may be a promising therapeutic dressing for skin wound repair and regeneration.
小分子载入生物材料为刺激内源性修复机制以实现原位皮肤再生提供了一种有前景的策略。锂可以调节多种生物过程，促进增殖、血管生成和减少炎症。然而，其在皮肤修复中的作用很少有报道。在本研究中，我们将氯化锂（LiCl）载入壳聚糖（CHI）水凝胶中，并通过冷冻干燥开发出一种无菌且生物相容的海绵支架。体外评估表明，CHI-LiCl 复合支架（CLiS）具有良好的细胞相容性、溶胀性和生物降解性。我们在雄性 C57BL/c 小鼠上创建了全层皮肤伤口，以评估 CLiS 的愈合能力。与对照组和 CHI 支架（CS）组的伤口相比，CLiS 处理组的伤口炎症减轻，血管生成改善，上皮再形成加速，β-连环蛋白持续高表达，少量再生的毛囊。因此，CLiS 可能是一种有前途的皮肤伤口修复和再生治疗敷料。
