Optimization and characterization of wound healing capability of secretome filled squid suckerin-spider silk hydrogel

Abstract

Diabetic ulcer is a debilitating ailment experienced by many diabetic patients. These ulcers do not heal easily and are prone to infection which can subsequently result in gangrene, tissue necrosis and ultimately the amputation of a limb. In order to overcome this issue, wound dressings that encourages normal wound healing progression are necessary. One such wound dressing would be a material that can act both as tissue engineering scaffold and drug delivery systems. In this respect, squid suckerin protein has the mechanical property which can be utilised to stabilise drugs as it is delivered within the systemic circulation. Furthermore, through modification with spider silk protein in its amino acid sequence, it can act as a scaffold due to its ability to undergo thermal gelation forming hydrogels and improve its solubility in physiological condition. Secretome excreted by mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) have been proven to have therapeutic effects in facilitating wound healing through the presence of cytokines which elucidate angiogenesis, re-epithelisation, extracellular matrix (ECM) formation and modelling and immunomodulatory response. Therefore, in this study our aim was to understand the physicochemical effect from the interaction between the modified squid suckerin protein based hydrogel and MSC secretome while also observing the in vivo physiological effect that the secretome loaded squid suckerin hydrogel have towards diabetic wound models.