Skin-inspired gelatin-based flexible bio-electronic hydrogel for wound healing promotion and motion sensing

Manhui Zheng; Xuechuan Wang; Ouyang Yue; Mengdi Hou; Huijie Zhang; Sebastian Beyer; Anna Maria Blocki; Qin Wang; Guidong Gong; Xinhua Liu; Junling Guo

doi:10.1016/j.biomaterials.2021.121026

Skin-inspired gelatin-based flexible bio-electronic hydrogel for wound healing promotion and motion sensing

Biomaterials. 2021 Sep:276:121026. doi: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2021.121026. Epub 2021 Jul 15.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ College of Bioresources Chemical and Materials Engineering, Institute of Biomass & Functional Materials, Shaanxi University of Science &Technology, Xi'an, 710021, China.
² College of Bioresources Chemical and Materials Engineering, Institute of Biomass & Functional Materials, Shaanxi University of Science &Technology, Xi'an, 710021, China. Electronic address: wxc-mail@163.com.
³ Institute for Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine & Department of Biomedical Engineering, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, SAR, China.
⁴ BMI Center for Biomass Materials and Nanointerfaces, School of Biomass Science and Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, 610065, China; School of Pharmacy, Southwest University for Nationalities, Chengdu, Sichuan, 610051, China.
⁵ BMI Center for Biomass Materials and Nanointerfaces, School of Biomass Science and Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, 610065, China.
⁶ College of Bioresources Chemical and Materials Engineering, Institute of Biomass & Functional Materials, Shaanxi University of Science &Technology, Xi'an, 710021, China. Electronic address: liuxinhua@sust.edu.cn.
⁷ BMI Center for Biomass Materials and Nanointerfaces, School of Biomass Science and Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, 610065, China; John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Boston, MA, 02115, United States; State Key Laboratory of Polymer Materials Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, 610065, China. Electronic address: junling.guo@scu.edu.cn.

PMID: 34298443
DOI: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2021.121026

Abstract

Next generation tissue-engineered skin scaffolds promise to provide sensory restoration through electrical stimulation in addition to effectively rebuilding and repairing skin. The integration of real-time monitoring of the injury motion activities can fundamentally improve the therapeutic efficacy by providing detailed data to guide the clinical practice. Herein, a mechanically-flexible, electroactive, and self-healable hydrogels (MESGel) was engineered for the combinational function of electrically-stimulated accelerated wound healing and motion sensing. MESGel shows outstanding biocompatibility and multifunctional therapeutic properties including flexibility, self-healing characteristics, biodegradability, and bioelectroactivity. Moreover, MESGel shows its potential of being a novel flexible electronic skin sensor to record the injury motion activities. Comprehensive in vitro and in vivo experiments prove that MESGel can facilitate effective electrical stimulation, actively promoting proliferation in Chinese hamster lung epithelial cells and therefore can accelerate favorable epithelial biology during skin wound healing, demonstrating an effective therapeutic strategy for a full-thickness skin defect model and leading to new-type flexible bioelectronics.

Keywords: Electric stimulation; FLexible bio-electronics; Gelatin hydrogels; Motion sensor; Wound healing.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Electronics
Gelatin*
Hydrogels*
Skin
Wound Healing

Substances

Hydrogels
Gelatin