Heparin-conjugated poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) nanospheres enhance large-wound healing by delivering growth factors in platelet-rich plasma.

Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) contains many growth factors that are involved in tissue regeneration processes. For successful tissue regeneration, protein growth factors require a delivery vehicle for long-term and sustained release to a defect site in order to maintain their bioactivity. Previously, we showed that heparin-conjugated poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) nanospheres (HCPNs) can provide long-term delivery of growth factors with affinity for heparin. In this study, we hypothesize that treatment of a skin wound with a mixture of PRP and HCPNs would provide long-term delivery of several growth factors contained in PRP to promote the skin wound healing process with preservation of bioactivity. The release of platelet-derived growth factor-BB (PDGF-BB), contained in PRP, from HCPN with fibrin gel (FG) showed a prolonged release period versus a PRP mixture with FG alone (FG-PRP). Also, growth factors released from PRP with HCPN and FG showed sustained human dermal fibroblast growth for 12 days. Full-thickness skin wound treatment in mice with FG-HCPN-PRP resulted in much faster wound closure as well as dermal and epidermal regeneration at day 9 compared with treatment with FG-HCPN or FG-PRP. The enhanced wound healing using FG-HCPN-PRP may be due to the prolonged release not only of PDGF-BB but also of other growth factors in the PRP. The delivered growth factors accelerated angiogenesis at the wound site.