Structural Characterization and Wound Healing Activity of Sulfated Glycosaminoglycans from Acipenser Baerii...

Sulfated glycosaminoglycans derived from sturgeon cartilage exhibit unique structural features and diverse biological activities. This study investigated the chemical, structural, and wound-healing properties of sulfated glycosaminoglycans from Acipenser baerii cartilage (ACGs). Disaccharide analysis revealed Δdi-6S (80%) and Δdi-4S (20%), while FTIR confirmed the characteristic functional groups of chondroitin sulfate. Structural characterization using ¹H, ¹³C, and HSQC NMR demonstrated that ACGs consist of repeating CS-C and CS-A units with glycosidic linkages of →4-β-D-GlcA-(1→3)- β-D-GalNAc(6-OSO₃ ^-)-(1→, and →4-β-D-GlcA-(1→3)- β-D-GalNAc(4-OSO₃ ^-)-(1→. As the wound-healing potential of ACGs had not been previously explored, their effects on cell proliferation, migration, and tissue repair were evaluated. In vitro, ACGs enhanced HDFa cell proliferation and migration by regulating MMP2 and Collagen 3A1 signaling. In vivo, topical ACG application accelerated wound closure in a dose-dependent manner, reducing the wound area to 3.97 ± 5.71% and achieving a 95.95 ± 5.97% healing rate by day 10 at 500 µg/cm². Notably, collagen deposition in the wounded sites increased to 220.36 ± 10.64% on day 10 at 100 µg/cm², while the control remained at 100.00 ± 10.89%. Moreover, ACGs promoted re-epithelialization and hair follicle regeneration in the wounded sites. Overall, ACG effectively promoted wound healing by modulating fibroblast functions.