Activating an Adaptive Immune Response from a Hydrogel Scaffold Imparts Regenerative Wound Healing

    May 2020 in “ bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) ”
    Donald R. Griffin, Maani M. Archang, C. Kuan, Westbrook M. Weaver, Jason S. Weinstein, An Chieh Feng, Amber Ruccia, Elias Sideris, Vasileios Ragkousis, Jaekyung Koh, Maksim V. Plikus, Dino Di Carlo, Tatiana Segura, Philip O. Scumpia
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    Studysummary This study found that D-peptide crosslinked MAP hydrogels accelerate skin regeneration and promote adaptive immunity, despite faster scaffold degradation in vivo.
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    In 2020, researchers developed a biomaterial scaffold, specifically microporous annealed particle (MAP) hydrogels, to accelerate wound healing. They attempted to slow scaffold degradation by switching the crosslinking peptides from L-peptides to D-peptides. Contrary to expectations, D-peptide crosslinked MAP hydrogel (D-MAP) sped up material degradation in vivo but significantly improved tissue regeneration in healed cutaneous wounds, including increased tensile strength and hair neogenesis. D-MAP also elicited a significant antigen-specific immunity against the D-chiral peptides, and an intact adaptive immune system was necessary for the hydrogel-induced skin regeneration. This study demonstrated that generating an adaptive immune response from a biomaterial can induce cutaneous regenerative healing despite faster scaffold degradation.
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