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Biomaterials

Biomaterials - Poster Session A

Poster C1 - Antimicrobial Self-Assembling Peptide Hydrogel for Accelerated Wound Healing

Thursday, October 24, 2024
10:00 AM – 11:00 AM EST
Location: Exhibit Hall E, F & G

Introduction:  Diabetes is one of the most common chronic diseases worldwide, afflicting 38M
Americans (11.6% of the population) [1]. One of the most common issues associated with
diabetes is chronic wounds, many of which acquire severe infection and result in amputation.
Current treatments for chronic wounds include regular cleaning and debridement of the wound,
with the more severe cases requiring skin grafts. While these treatments may show minor
success in some patients, they are often ineffective at preventing infection and bacterial biofilm
formation with the wound. There is a substantial gap in the wound healing market for an
intrinsically antimicrobial wound healing therapeutic that will also promote tissue regeneration.
Here, we are developing a self-assembling peptide hydrogel (SAPH) that can be applied
topically to the wound to accelerate the wound healing process. Our in vitro studies also
suggest that our wound healing SAPH has broad-spectrum antimicrobial properties, including
toxicity to biofilms. This research project’s objective is to test this SAPH’s efficacy in a rodent
infected wound model.

Materials and

Methods:  Peptides are synthesized in-house using solid-phase peptide
synthesis. To test the ability of this SAPH to promote the migration of vascular endothelial cells,
we are performing in vitro scratch assays. To test the in vivo efficacy of peptides to promote
wound healing, we are currently performing dorsal wound punch assays. Briefly, four 8mm sized
full thickness wounds are created on the dorsal side of Wistar rats, removing the top layer of
skin and the panniculus carnosus. Silicon rings are sutured around the wound to prevent wound
contraction. After wound creation, the SAPH along with respective controls are applied topically
using a pipette and a transparent wound dressing (Tegaderm) is applied over the wounds. At 0,
3, 7, 10, and 14 days post-surgery, the wounds are imaged to assess the degree of wound
closure. Wound size and area are quantified in ImageJ software. Tegaderm and SAPH are
reapplied to the wounds 3, 7, and 10 days after induction of the wounds. 14 days after wound
induction, the rats are euthanized and the wounds are explanted and placed in formalin. These
tissue samples are sectioned and stained with Hematoxylin and Eosin (H&E) and Masson
Trichrome (MT) to quantify tissue regeneration within the wound.

Results, Conclusions, and Discussions: We have established a method in the lab to continue to test the
efficacy of our SAPHs to promote wound healing in vivo. First, we will assess wound healing
and resolution in rats treated with peptide. Future experiments will test the prophylactic and
treatment capacity of our antimicrobial wound healing peptides, applied before and after S.
aureus wound infection, respectively.
We hope our peptide hydrogels will facilitate the regeneration of wound tissue
while preventing current and future infection. Further testing of the antimicrobial SAPH in
infected and diabetic models may provide evidence for its potential to be used for diabetic
patients and resolve the issue of infection and biofilm formation within chronic wounds.

Acknowledgements (Optional):