Wound Healing using Q-Starch/PIP₃ Nano Complexes

According to the Wound Healing Society, a wound is the result of disruption in a normal anatomic structure and function. The wound healing process has been well studied and includes 4 main stages, which lasts 8-12 weeks in acute wound, and longer time in chronic wounds. A malfunction in one of the stages of wound healing can cause a chronic wound and lead to local and systematic infections, organ amputation and even death. Therefore, it is necessary to heal the wound in the shortest possible time, thereby preventing exposure to the environment and reducing the risk of contamination.

Our approach in the investigated nano complex system is acceleration of wound healing process using the intracellular molecule Phosphatidylinositol-3,4,5-trisphosphate (PIP3) , which takes an active part in the wound healing processes including cell migration, transcription and proliferation via phosphoinositide 3 kinase (PI3K) pathway.

PIP3 delivery system is based on cationic modified Starch carrier (Q-Starch), which enables to overcome electrostatic repulsion between negatively charge PIP3 phosphate groups and cellular membrane. The Q-starch has been well explored in our lab and found suitable as a carrier for small interference RNA (siRNA), mRNA and more. So far, the Q-Starch/PIP3 complexes were prepared in a self-assembly formation and analyzed using DLS, ζ-potential, Nano Sight, AFM and Cryo-TEM, resulting a nanometric size complex suitable for drug delivery. In addition, the cellular uptake of the complex to the membrane was observed at different time intervals by fluorescent labeling of the Q-Starch and its tracking using a confocal microscope.

In vitro study of cells’ migration was performed on a monolayer of HaCat keratinocyte cell line, using scratch assay and transwell assay methods. The results demonstrated a faster migration towards scratch closure in cells treated with Q-Starch/PIP3 complexes. Complexes’ effect on wound healing process in-vivo is been evaluated these days.