Disulfide bond-driven hyaluronic acid/sericin nanoparticles for wound-healing application

There is a growing demand of bioinspired wound-healing platforms with superior tissue repairing and low immunogenicity. Hyaluronic acid (HA) and sericin (Sc) are extensively used for their competence in tissue engineering and gene/drug delivery. Herein, we demonstrate the formation of hybrid nanoparticles of HA and Sc (HS NPs) taking advantage of the dynamic disulfide bonding between their thiolated derivatives. The fabricated HS NPs were loaded with ursodeoxycholic acid (UDC), a known suppressor for NF-κB expression, and explored for the cellular response of designed hybrid UDC-HS NPs. The cytotoxicity of the synthesized hybrid system was evaluated on CCD-986Sk cells, showing negligible cytotoxicity with the cell proliferation data supporting the potential of UDC-HS NPs in increasing the cell density. Moreover, UDC-HS NPs also directed enhanced antioxidant activity. Furthermore, the wound-healing capability of UDC-HS NPs was investigated through in vitro scratch assay on CCD-986Sk cells. The results obtained could provide a useful approach in designing hybrid nanoplatform with implications in wound repair and tissue regeneration.