Self-assembly and wound healing activity of biomimetic cycloalkane-based lipopeptides

Adak, A., Castelletto, V. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3705-0162, Hamley, I. W. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4549-0926, Seitsonen, J., Jana, A., Ghosh, S., Mukherjee, N. and Ghosh, S. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8203-8613 (2024) Self-assembly and wound healing activity of biomimetic cycloalkane-based lipopeptides. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 16 (24). pp. 58417-58426. ISSN 1944-8252 doi: 10.1021/acsami.4c14162

Abstract/Summary

The self-assembly of lipopeptide (peptide amphiphile) molecules bearing single linear lipid chains has been widely studied, as has their diverse range of bioactivities. Here, we introduce lipopeptides bearing one or two cycloalkane chains (cycloheptadecyl or cyclododecyl) conjugated to the collagen-stimulating pentapeptide KTTKS used in Matrixyl formulations. The self-assembly of all four molecules is probed using fluorescence probe measurements to detect the critical aggregation concentration (CAC), and cryogenic-TEM and small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) to image the nanostructure. The peptide conformation is studied using circular dichroism (CD) and FTIR spectroscopies. All the cycloalkane lipopeptides show excellent compatibility with dermal fibroblasts. The compounds bearing one or two cyclododecyl chains (denoted as DKT and DDKT, respectively) show wound healing in diabetic rats, the improvement being markedly enhanced for DDKT. Interestingly, the revival of hair follicles and blood vessels in the dermis were observed, which are the critical markers of effective wound repair. Analysis of H&E-stained tissue images (from a rat model) shows that the rat groups treated with DDKT and DKT displayed a significantly increased amount of regenerated hair follicles, indicating a faster healing process for DDKT compared to the control group. Collagen deposition was also enhanced, especially for DDKT, and by day 20, the DDKT-treated groups had developed a dense collagen network accompanied by a regenerated epidermis. At the same time, the number of blood vessels in DDKT-treated diabetic wounds was significantly higher than in control groups and neovascularization was substantially enhanced, as assayed using α-SMA (a marker for vascular smooth muscle cells) and CD31 (a marker specific to vascular endothelial cells). These results suggest that the lead lipopeptide DDKT exhibits a remarkable pro-vascularization capability and shows great promise for future application as a wound-healing biomaterial.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/119085
Item Type	Article
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Interdisciplinary centres and themes > Chemical Analysis Facility (CAF) Life Sciences > School of Chemistry, Food and Pharmacy > Department of Chemistry
Publisher	American Chemical Society
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