Screening of the Skin-Regenerative Potential of Antimicrobial Peptides: Clavanin A, Clavanin-MO, and Mastoparan-MO

Skin wound healing is coordinated by a delicate balance between proinflammatory and anti-inflammatory responses, which can be affected by opportunistic pathogens and metabolic or vascular diseases. Several antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) possess immunomodulatory properties, suggesting their potential to support skin wound healing. Here, we evaluated the proregenerative activity of three recently described AMPs (Clavanin A, Clavanin-MO, and Mastoparan-MO). Human primary dermal fibroblasts (hFibs) were used to determine peptide toxicity and their capacity to induce cell proliferation and migration. Furthermore, mRNA analysis was used to investigate the modulation of genes associated with skin regeneration. Subsequently, the regenerative potential of the peptides was further confirmed using an ex vivo organotypic model of human skin (hOSEC)-based lesion. Our results indicate that the three molecules evaluated in this study have regenerative potential at nontoxic doses (i.e., 200 μM for Clavanin-A and Clavanin-MO, and 6.25 μM for Mastoparan-MO). At these concentrations, all peptides promoted the proliferation and migration of hFibs during in vitro assays. Such processes were accompanied by gene expression signatures related to skin regenerative processes, including significantly higher KI67, HAS2 and CXCR4 mRNA levels induced by Clavanin A and Mastoparan-MO. Such findings translated into significantly accelerated wound healing promoted by both Clavanin A and Mastoparan-MO in hOSEC-based lesions. Overall, the data demonstrate the proregenerative properties of these peptides using human experimental skin models, with Mastoparan-MO and Clavanin A showing much greater potential for inducing wound healing compared to Clavanin-MO.