Self-Assembled Nanofibrous Marine Collagen Matrix Accelerates Healing of Full-Thickness Wounds

There is an urgent clinical need for wound dressings to treat skin injuries, particularly full-thickness wounds caused by acute and chronic wounds. Marine collagen has emerged as an attractive and safer alternative due to its biocompatibility, diversity, and sustainability. It has minimum risk of zoonotic diseases and less religious constraints as compared to mammalian collagen. In this study, we reported the development of a self-assembled nanofibrous barramundi (Lates calcarifer) collagen matrix (Nano-BCM), which showed good biocompatibility for full-thickness wound-healing applications. The collagen was extracted and purified from barramundi scales and skin. Thereafter, the physicochemical properties of collagen were systematically evaluated. The process to extract barramundi skin collagen (BC) gave an excellent 45% yield and superior purity (∼100%). More importantly, BC demonstrated structural integrity, native triple helix structure, and good thermal stability. BC demonstrated its efficacy in promoting human primary dermal fibroblast (HDF) and immortalized human keratinocytes (HaCaT) proliferation and migration. Nano-BCM has been prepared via self-assembly of collagen molecules in physiological conditions, which resembled the native extracellular matrix (ECM). The clinical therapeutic efficacy of the Nano-BCM was further evaluated in a full-thickness splinted skin wound mice model. In comparison to a clinically used wound dressing (DuoDerm), the Nano-BCM demonstrated significantly accelerated wound closure and re-epithelization. Moreover, Nano-BCM nanofibrous architecture and its ability to facilitate early inflammatory response significantly promoted angiogenesis and differentiated myofibroblast, leading to enhanced wound healing. Consequently, Nano-BCM demonstrates great potential as an economical and effective nonmammalian substitute to achieve skin regeneration.