Electrostimulation combined with biodegradable electroactive oriented nanofiber polycaprolactone/gelatin/carbon nanotube to accelerate wound healing

Abstract

Wound healing is a complex but precise physiological process. Howener, existing treatments are often difficult to meet the needs of different wound healing. With the background that exogenous electrical stimulation (ES) has been proven to be effective in regulating cell behavior, we constructed a electroactive wound dressing derived from carbon nanotubes (CNT) by electrospinning technology. The scaffold has a moderate hydrophilicity, which benefits to collecting of effusion, adhering to the wound site, and safely removing. Furthermore, the oriented structure has the potential to promote cell oriented growth, while the coupling of endogenous electric field (EFs) and ES could effectively regulate the phenotype of macrophages and reshape the immune microenvironment. At the same time, the active electrical stimulation promotes the secretion of active factors and the proliferation and migration of fibroblasts and endothelial cells. In vivo assays further confirm that PCL/GE/CNT combined ES strategy can significantly inhibit the early inflammatory response, while promoting vascular regeneration and collagen deposition. RNA sequencing analysis is used to reveal the mechanism at the molecular level. Overall, this study employed a composite strategy of combining CNT with moderately hydrophilic biocompatible nanofibers to achieve ES delivery simply and effectively, significantly improving tissue engineering outcomes. This innovative strategy provides a feasible approach for efficient wound repair, and provides an important experimental basis and theoretical guidance for future development in the field of skin tissue engineering.