Polymer- and Lipid-Based Nanostructures Serving Wound Healing Applications: A Review.

Abstract

Management of hard-to-heal wounds often requires specialized care that surpasses the capabilities of conventional treatments. Even the most advanced commercial products lack the functionality to meet the needs of hard-to-heal wounds, especially those complicated by active infection, extreme bleeding, and chronic inflammation. The review explores how supramolecular nanovesicles and nanoparticles-such as dendrimers, micelles, polymersomes, and lipid-based nanocarriers-can be key to introducing advanced wound healing and monitoring properties to address the complex needs of hard-to-heal wounds. Their potential to enable advanced functions essential for next-generation wound healing products-such as hemostatic functions, transdermal penetration, macrophage polarization, targeted delivery, and controlled release of active pharmaceutical ingredients (antibiotics, gaseous products, anti-inflammatory drugs, growth factors)-is discussed via an extensive overview of the recent reports. These studies highlight that the integration of supramolecular systems in wound care is crucial for advancing toward a new generation of wound healing products and addressing significant gaps in current wound management practices. Current strategies and potential improvements regarding personalized therapies, transdermal delivery, and the promising critically evaluated but underexplored polymer-based nanovesicles, including polymersomes and proteinosomes, for wound healing.