Porous, resorbable biomaterials can serve as temporary scaffolds that support cell infiltration, tissue formation, and remodeling of nonhealing skin wounds. Synthetic biomaterials are less expensive to manufacture than biologic dressings and can achieve a broader range of physiochemical properties, but opportunities remain to tailor these materials for ideal host immune and regenerative responses. Polyesters are a well-established class of synthetic biomaterials; however, acidic degradation products released by their hydrolysis can cause poorly controlled autocatalytic degradation. Here, we systemically explored reactive oxygen species (ROS)–degradable polythioketal (PTK) urethane (UR) foams with varied hydrophilicity for skin wound healing. The most hydrophilic PTK-UR variant, with seven ethylene glycol (EG7) repeats flanking each side of a thioketal bond, exhibited the highest ROS reactivity and promoted optimal tissue infiltration, extracellular matrix (ECM) deposition, and reepithelialization in porcine skin wounds. EG7 induced lower foreign body response, greater recruitment of regenerative immune cell populations, and resolution of type 1 inflammation compared to more hydrophobic PTK-UR scaffolds. Porcine wounds treated with EG7 PTK-UR foams had greater ECM production, vascularization, and resolution of proinflammatory immune cells compared to polyester UR foam–based NovoSorb Biodegradable Temporizing Matrix (BTM)–treated wounds and greater early vascular perfusion and similar wound resurfacing relative to clinical gold standard Integra Bilayer Wound Matrix (BWM). In a porcine ischemic flap excisional wound model, EG7 PTK-UR treatment led to higher wound healing scores driven by lower inflammation and higher reepithelialization compared to NovoSorb BTM. PTK-UR foams warrant further investigation as synthetic biomaterials for wound healing applications.
2 August 2019 in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces
Ischemic stroke is a leading cause of death and long‐term disability worldwide, yet availability of current treatments is limited. The downstream events resulting from cerebral ischemia lead to an imbalance in the production of harmful reactive oxygen species (ROS) over endogenous antioxidant mechanisms. Thus, treatments that can reduce this imbalance can limit the extent of injury resulting from ischemic stroke. In this work, the potential of novel ROS‐scavenging PEGylated polymeric nanoparticles (NPs) composed of poly(propylene sulfide) (PPS) (PPS‐NPs) for ischemic stroke therapy is evaluated in vitro and in a mouse model of stroke. In vitro results show that PPS‐NPs display remarkable anti‐oxidant and anti‐inflammatory properties, whilst exhibiting negligible cytotoxicity. NPs administered intravenously rapidly accumulate in ischemic brain regions as visualized through fluorescence imaging, reduced infarct volume, blood‐brain barrier damage, neuronal loss, and neuroinflammation as determined by immunohistochemistry, and improved recovery of neurological function as determined through behavioral analyses. Crucially, the data show that the therapeutic time window for administration of PPS‐NPs extends up to 3 h, a clinically relevant time window for stroke. The findings provide new strong evidence that these NPs may be an effective antioxidant therapy for ischemic stroke.