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Review
. 2022 Aug 6;11(15):2439.
doi: 10.3390/cells11152439.

Innovative Treatment Strategies to Accelerate Wound Healing: Trajectory and Recent Advancements

Affiliations
Review

Innovative Treatment Strategies to Accelerate Wound Healing: Trajectory and Recent Advancements

Praveen Kolimi et al. Cells. .

Abstract

Wound healing is highly specialized dynamic multiple phase process for the repair of damaged/injured tissues through an intricate mechanism. Any failure in the normal wound healing process results in abnormal scar formation, and chronic state which is more susceptible to infections. Chronic wounds affect patients' quality of life along with increased morbidity and mortality and are huge financial burden to healthcare systems worldwide, and thus requires specialized biomedical intensive treatment for its management. The clinical assessment and management of chronic wounds remains challenging despite the development of various therapeutic regimens owing to its painstakingly long-term treatment requirement and complex wound healing mechanism. Various conventional approaches such as cell therapy, gene therapy, growth factor delivery, wound dressings, and skin grafts etc., are being utilized for promoting wound healing in different types of wounds. However, all these abovementioned therapies are not satisfactory for all wound types, therefore, there is an urgent demand for the development of competitive therapies. Therefore, there is a pertinent requirement to develop newer and innovative treatment modalities for multipart therapeutic regimens for chronic wounds. Recent developments in advanced wound care technology includes nanotherapeutics, stem cells therapy, bioengineered skin grafts, and 3D bioprinting-based strategies for improving therapeutic outcomes with a focus on skin regeneration with minimal side effects. The main objective of this review is to provide an updated overview of progress in therapeutic options in chronic wounds healing and management over the years using next generation innovative approaches. Herein, we have discussed the skin function and anatomy, wounds and wound healing processes, followed by conventional treatment modalities for wound healing and skin regeneration. Furthermore, various emerging and innovative strategies for promoting quality wound healing such as nanotherapeutics, stem cells therapy, 3D bioprinted skin, extracellular matrix-based approaches, platelet-rich plasma-based approaches, and cold plasma treatment therapy have been discussed with their benefits and shortcomings. Finally, challenges of these innovative strategies are reviewed with a note on future prospects.

Keywords: 3D bioprinting; chronic wounds; improved wound management; nanotherapeutics; stem cells; wound healing.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Schematic representation of basic human skin anatomy depicting the different skin layers and their components.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Different stages of wound healing. All the four phases with highlighted key events play a pivotal role in cutaneous wound healing.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Schematic representation of nanotherapeutic approaches using a wide range of nanomaterials for chronic wound healing.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Recent advancements in 3D bioprinting technologies and bio-inks development for improved wound healing, in vitro disease model development, and the fabrication of high throughput platform for drug screening.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Interactions of the ECM fibers and stem cell integrins through inside-out signaling and outside-in signaling for the modulation of cell migration, proliferation, and differentiation during the wound healing process. Inside-out signaling allows integrins to interact with ECM fibers for integrin activation, while outside-in signaling produces the desired changes in stem cells. Reproduced from ref. [240] with permission from Elsevier.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Effects of cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) on wound healing.

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