An overview on using small molecules to regenerate skin tissue and wound healing

The chronic wounds represent a significant burden in public health as their associated healing process is problematic mainly in aging population with increased morbidity. Delayed healing can be attributed to sustained inflammation and the extreme release of proteolytic enzymes that prevent re-epithelialization, de novo tissue formation, and wound remodeling. Introduction of fast and efficient treatment modality for non-healing wounds that able to progress through the normal, tightly regulated sequelae of overlapping stages of hemostasis, inflammation, granulation tissue formation, and remodeling remain limited owing to the low efficiency as well as high risk of various bacterial infection. Small molecules have recently proposed as promising alternative approach to promote tissue growth through mimicking the in vivo microenvironment of the cells while they are able to minimize or overcome shortcomings of other approaches such as using growth factors, in particular high cost, immune response and instability. We herewith summarize our experiences in exploiting small molecules such as resveratrol, quercetin and silymarin etc. either when used on their own or when incorporated within polymeric scaffolds to direct cell fate for skin regeneration, and provide information on the most widely used hydrophobic small molecule drugs in wound healing. They were found to be able to activate particular signaling pathways that significantly accelerate wound closure, increases level of collagen organization, and enhances wound tensile strength. Data presented here highlight the potential of exploiting small molecules to enhance the clinical efficacy of human skin regenerative therapy.

کلیدواژه ها:

Small molecules ، chronic wound healing ، ulcers ، growth factors