Multifunctional metal-organic frameworks for wound healing and skin regeneration

Various wounds caused by burns, trauma, surgery, and genetic irregularities, including acute and chronic wounds, pose a huge burden on global healthcare. Many therapeutic strategies, such as nanomedicine and regenerative medicine, have been applied to wound repair and skin regeneration. As a promising and exciting nanomaterial, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) encompass many desirable properties, including crystalline porous structure, tunable size, good mechanical stability, large specific surface area, and exceptional chemical stability. Most importantly, the performance of MOFs can be modulated by changing synthesis steps and conditions. MOFs can release metal ions to modulate cellular behaviors and kill various microorganisms, which meets this dual agent release therapeutic strategy for wound healing and skin regeneration. Additionally, MOFs can act as carriers for delivering bioactive agents in a desired manner. Recently, an increasing number of researchers have conducted many studies on applying various MOFs in wound healing and skin regeneration. Based on this, we perform this study to report the current status and further perspective of MOFs-based therapeutic strategy. Furthermore, the molecular process of wound healing and the fabrication of MOFs were also discussed.