A nano zinc oxide doped electrospun scaffold improves wound healing in a rodent model

Abstract

Development of new and effective wound dressing materials continues to be an area of intense research in wound care management. In the present study, we developed nano zinc oxide (nZnO) doped nanofibrous scaffolds of gelatin and PMVE/MA (GPZ) by an electrospinning method for skin tissue engineering and compared it with gelatin and composite scaffolds. Scaffolds were cross-linked with glutaraldehyde vapour to improve scaffold stability. SEM micrographs displayed randomly oriented nanofibers with interconnected pores. TEM and XRD analysis of scaffolds confirmed the presence of nZnO in the GPZ scaffold. Colony forming unit assay and SEM micrographs confirmed the antibacterial activity of nZnO containing scaffold GPZ. Initial biocompatibility testing of scaffolds done with NIH3T3 cells indicated no toxicity of nZnO to mammalian cells. The efficacy of nanofibrous scaffolds for endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) was assessed in vitro and then their proficiency for wound healing was assessed in vivo by topical application of a matrix with EPCs on wounds in mice. Scaffold GPZ enriched with EPCs exhibited faster and improved wound healing in comparison to other scaffolds. Taking all the results together, our study establishes the proficiency of scaffold GPZ over other scaffolds and it may find its application in skin tissue engineering.