title: Electrospun fibers with plasmid bFGF polyplex loadings promote skin wound healing in diabetic rats.
abstract: Deep or chronic skin wounds are difficult to heal spontaneously due to the lack of scaffold to guide cell growth and reduced levels and activities of endogenous growth factors. Emulsion electrospinning process integrated with DNA condensation techniques indicated potentials to gradually release DNA, but no attempt has been made to clarify the advantages in promoting tissue regeneration and wound recovery. In this study, polyplexes of basic fibroblast growth factor-encoding plasmid (pbFGF) with poly(ethylene imine) were incorporated into electrospun fibers with a core-sheath structure, and poly(ethylene glycol) was included into the fiber sheath to allow a sustained release of pbFGF for 4 weeks. In vitro tests on mouse embryo fibroblasts indicated that pbFGF-loaded fibrous mats enhanced cell proliferation by the autocrine bFGF, and an effective cell transfection proceeded for over 28 days. Skin wounds were created in the dorsal area of diabetic rats for in vivo evaluation of skin regeneration after being covered with pbFGF-loaded fibrous mats. The gradual pbFGF release revealed significantly higher wound recovery rate with improved vascularization, enhanced collagen deposition and maturation, complete re-epithelialization and formation of skin appendages. The above results demonstrate the potential use of pbFGF-loaded electrospun fibrous mats to accelerate the healing of skin ulcers for patients with diabetic mellitus.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Advanced Technologies of Materials, Ministry of Education of China, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu 610031, PR China.
authors.forename: Ye
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Tian
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Xia
authors.forename: Fang
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.forename: Chaoyu
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Shuhui
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: He
authors.forename: Xiaohong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D003692:Delayed-Action Preparations / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003925:Diabetic Angiopathies / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D055664:Electrochemical Techniques; D004622:Embryo, Mammalian / Q000166:cytology; D016222:Fibroblast Growth Factor 2 / Q000235:genetics / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005347:Fibroblasts / Q000166:cytology; D018014:Gene Transfer Techniques; D015316:Genetic Therapy; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D010957:Plasmids / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D011094:Polyethyleneimine / Q000737:chemistry; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000627:therapeutic use; D012883:Skin Ulcer / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D057968:Transdermal Patch; D014945:Wound Healing
chemical_list: D003692:Delayed-Action Preparations; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; C485184:enhanced green fluorescent protein; D016222:Fibroblast Growth Factor 2; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins; D011094:Polyethyleneimine