Spatiotemporally controlled delivery of biological effectors from nanofiber scaffolds accelerates skin wound healing in porcine models
Skin wound healing is a dynamic process, yet scaffolds enabling stage-specific modulation remain limited. We fabricated a nanofiber scaffold from FDA-approved materials, consisting of two outer layers of radially aligned and random poly(ε-caprolactone) fibers and a middle layer of electrosprayed phase-change microparticles loaded with platelet-derived growth factor-BB (PDGF-BB)/vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in the periphery and PDGF-BB/epidermal growth factor (EGF) in the center. Near-infrared irradiation through a photomask enabled spatiotemporal control of growth factor release, aligning PDGF-BB, VEGF, and EGF delivery with specific phases of wound healing to promote vascularization, cell proliferation, and tissue remodeling. In a preclinical porcine model, it enhanced closure and modulated the microenvironment by activating PI3K-Akt, MAPK, and immune pathways, up-regulating genes for survival and repair while down-regulating those linked to apoptosis and inflammation. With scalable manufacturing and large-animal efficacy, this scaffold holds translational potential for skin wound healing.
Authors
- Jiajia Xue (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7209-7935)
- Bowen Gong
- Younan Xia (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2431-7048)
- Feng Rao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6038-6406)
- Xindan Zhang
- Liqun Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2103-6294)
- Yonglai Lu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6651-1116)
- Feng Tian
- H. M. Hu
Institutions
- Peking University (CN)
- The Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering (US)
- Peking University People's Hospital (CN)
- Beijing University of Chemical Technology (CN)
- Xi'an Jiaotong University (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Science Advances
- Published
- 2025-10-15
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adz5302
- Citations
- 11
- Primary Topic
- Electrospun Nanofibers in Biomedical Applications
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 6.57