Antioxidant Peptide-Based Nanocarriers for Delivering Wound Healing Agents

Curcumin, a well-known wound healing agent, faces clinical limitations due to its poor water solubility, rapid degradation, and short plasma half-life. To address these challenges, we developed a self-assembling peptide incorporating an antioxidant sequence (YGDEY), which is capable of not only delivering curcumin but also exhibiting additional bioactivity to enhance wound healing.

An antioxidant nanocarrier was developed via peptide self-assembly. To design an amphiphilic peptide for the nanocarrier assembly, antioxidant peptide sequence (YGDEY) as the hydrophilic segment and the hydrophobic block (WLWL) were incorporated to single peptide molecule. The peptide's self-assembly behavior and curcumin encapsulation were initially analyzed. Subsequent evaluations included cytocompatibility, cellular uptake, and antioxidant activity.

Driven by strong interactions among their hydrophobic blocks (WLWL), the peptides formed well-defined nanostructures exhibiting high thermal stability. Furthermore, the encapsulation of curcumin within the micelle significantly improved its cellular penetration efficiency. When applied to fibroblast cells, the peptide-curcumin nanocomplexes exhibited synergistically enhanced antioxidant activity, which notably outperformed free curcumin and free peptide in scavenging reactive oxygen species.

These findings highlight the potential of the designed peptide-based nanocarrier to overcome intrinsic limitations of curcumin and enhance its therapeutic efficacy, providing a promising strategy for advanced wound healing applications.