Electrospun nanofibrous scaffolds as a platform to reduce melanoma tumour growth, recurrence, and promote post-resection wound repair

Nowsheen Goonoo; Fanny Gimié; Imade Ait-Arsa; Melanie Ziman; Samson A Adeyemi; Philemon Ubanako; Lindokuhle M Ngema; Yahya E Choonara; Archana Bhaw-Luximon

doi:10.1016/j.bioadv.2024.213870

Electrospun nanofibrous scaffolds as a platform to reduce melanoma tumour growth, recurrence, and promote post-resection wound repair

Biomater Adv. 2024 Apr 28:161:213870. doi: 10.1016/j.bioadv.2024.213870. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Nowsheen Goonoo¹, Fanny Gimié², Imade Ait-Arsa², Melanie Ziman³, Samson A Adeyemi⁴, Philemon Ubanako⁴, Lindokuhle M Ngema⁴, Yahya E Choonara⁴, Archana Bhaw-Luximon⁵

Affiliations

¹ Biomaterials, Drug Delivery and Nanotechnology Unit, Centre for Biomedical and Biomaterials Research, University of Mauritius, Réduit, Mauritius.
² Animalerie, Plateforme de recherche CYROI, 2 rue Maxime Rivière, 97490 Sainte Clotilde, Ile De La Réunion, France.
³ School of Medical and Health Sciences, Edith Cowan University, Perth, Australia.
⁴ WITS Advanced Drug Delivery Platform, University of Witswatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
⁵ Biomaterials, Drug Delivery and Nanotechnology Unit, Centre for Biomedical and Biomaterials Research, University of Mauritius, Réduit, Mauritius. Electronic address: a.luximon@uom.ac.mu.

PMID: 38701686
DOI: 10.1016/j.bioadv.2024.213870

Abstract

Wound healing following skin tumour surgery still remains a major challenge. To address this issue, polysaccharide-loaded nanofibrous mats have been engineered as skin patches on the wound site to improve wound healing while simultaneously eliminating residual cancer cells which may cause cancer relapse. The marine derived polysaccharides kappa-carrageenan (KCG) and fucoidan (FUC) were blended with polydioxanone (PDX) nanofibers due to their inherent anti-cancer activity conferred by the sulphate groups as well as their immunomodulatory properties which can reduce inflammation resulting in accelerated wound healing. KCG and FUC were released sustainably from the blend nanofibers via the Korsmeyer-Peppas kinetics. MTT assays, live/dead staining and SEM images demonstrated the toxicity of KCG and FUC towards skin cancer MP 41 cells. In addition, MP 41 cells showed reduced metastatic potential when grown on KCG or FUC containing mats. Both KCG and FUC were non- cytotoxic to healthy L 929 fibroblast cells. In vivo studies on healthy Wistar rats confirmed the non-toxicity of the nanofibrous patches as well as their improved and scarless wound healing potential. In vivo studies on tumour xenograft model further showed a reduction of 7.15 % in tumour volume in only 4 days following application of the transdermal patch.

Keywords: Cancer Regenerative Medicine; Fucoidan; Melanoma; Nanofibers.