Stimulatory Effect of Hexagonal Boron Nitrides in Wound Healing

There is an increased interest in the use of hexagonal boron nitrides (hBNs) in medicine due to their unique properties that include low toxicity, absorption of UV light and neutrons, high chemical stability, and mechanical strength. In this study, hBNs were investigated for wound healing therapy as a potential therapeutic agent. Boron compounds (especially boric acid) are increasingly used in wound healing therapy; however, their short half-life is a bottleneck and limits their use. Because hBNs slowly degrade and one of the degradation products is boric acid (BA), hBNs and BA were comparatively evaluated in vitro to assess their influence on wound healing. First, antimicrobial activity and cytotoxicity of synthesized hBNs were evaluated for dose determination. Then, the results of scratch assay indicated that hBNs accelerated the wound closure at low concentrations, showing also enhanced angiogenic activity compared to BA. The cell cycle analysis showed that hBNs did not arrest the cells in the G2/M phase but induced the cells to go into S phase, whereas BA had almost no effect on the cell proliferation. It was also found that the hBNs decreased the reactive oxygen species level more than BA. Apoptosis/necrosis assay showed that the hBNs rescued the cells from apoptosis, whereas BA had almost no effect on the cell death mechanism. Beside, hBNs did not cause damage to the mitochondria at low concentration and did not perturb the F-actin conformation at all tested concentrations. These findings suggest that hBNs might be a potential therapeutic agent in wound healing therapy.