Polyaniline doped silk fibroin-PCL Electrospunfiber: An electroactive fibrous sheet for full-thickness wound healing study

The conductive electroactive properties of polyaniline (PANi) make it a promising polymer for a wide range of therapeutic applications, including wound care and treatment. In the present work, 0.3 wt% of PANI, denoted as p, content is incorporated in a high silk fibroin (S) loaded polycaprolactone (PCL) fiber in HFIP without/with FA and denoted as BpS and EpS. The effect of p in the HFIP without/with FA solvent (homogeneous & emulsion) resulted with different pH (pH-9/3) and produced fiber with different topography. Both, BpS and EpS fibers physico-chemical characterization were studied to confirm the presence of polymers in the composition and effect of p in different solvent. Electroactive "smart" fiber made from BpS (pH 9) is more mechanically stable than fiber made from EpS (pH 3) as shown by the fiber's mechanical properties. Human placenta-derived mesenchymal stem cells (hPMSCs) were used to assess cellular compatibility, and they showed significantly higher proliferation rate on BpS fiber substrate than on EpS. The in vivo evaluation for full-thickness wound model treated with BpS and EpS fibers were also studied. The IHC staining, biochemical analysis and RT-PCR were also observed to understand various mechanisms involved at different phases of the wound healing progression. The mechanical strength and electroactive property of BpS resulted in enhanced wound healing and complete wound closure than EpS and Tegaderm treated wound. Further, BpS treated wound at 7 days showed high gene expression of IL-1β, IFNγ, Col III and EGF. After 14 days, BpS treated wounds had increased gene expression of TGF-1, Col I, and FGF. Therefore BpS treated wound showed to be a potential wound dressing material with effective skin remodelling.