Application of keratin biomaterials in healthy and diabetic wound healing-experimental studies

Title : Application of keratin biomaterials in healthy and diabetic wound healing-experimental studies

Abstract:

Biomaterials are used in regenerative medicine as wound dressings, implantable materials, controlled-release carriers, or scaffolds for tissue engineering. Chronic, nonhealing wounds are a serious problem for people suffering from diabetes. Therefore, various scientific groups have studied potential dressings based on natural or synthetic substances in healthy and diabetic conditions. which would significantly accelerate the healing process. In this context, keratin biomaterials soluble or insoluble gain much attention due to their unique set of properties, such as excellent biocompatibility, biodegradability, and bioactivity. Our team examined the effect of insoluble fractions of keratin and their modification as a potential wound dressing in healthy and diabetic animal models. Our results showed that keratin biomaterials are non-toxic, tissue biocompatible, and support the growth of the NIH/3T3 cell line. In vivo experiments in healthy and diabetic mice showed, that wounds treated with keratin dressing healed significantly faster than control wounds. In the next study, we examined keratin dressing and its modifications (with casomorphin, AgNP and butyrate) in diabetic conditions. Our studies showed that obtained wound dressings are tissue-biocompatible and support wound healing in diabetic animals. Histopathological and immunofluorescence examination showed, that in treated wounds predominant macrophages and their morphological variants compared with control wounds were predominant neutrophils. The dressings were incorporated naturally into granulation and regenerating tissue without any visible signs of the inflammatory response, which was confirmed by histopathological analysis. Our study showed that obtained keratin dressings are safe and can efficiently accelerate skin wound healing in healthy and diabetic animals.

Audience Take Away: 

• Biomedical properties of keratin biomaterials
• The role of the insoluble fraction of keratin biomaterials as a potential wound dressing.
• The impact of antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory and pain relief substances on wound healing.

Biography:

Marek Konop, PhD, DSc, is an Associate Professor at the Medical University of Warsaw, Poland, working in the Department of Experimental Physiology and Pathophysiology. His research focuses on experimental dermatology, wound healing, regenerative medicine, and developing bioactive biomaterials for skin repair. His current work particularly explores keratin- and silk-derived biomaterials, including sericin, as modulators of inflammation, macrophage polarisation, and epidermal regeneration in acute and chronic wounds. He is also actively involved in international research collaborations, scientific publishing, and editorial activities in dermatology and regenerative medicine.