A protein named Agrin has been discovered to promote wound healing and repair, when it is triggered after skin tissue is injured. These findings could pave the way for the development of Agrin protein therapy to accelerate skin tissue healing for chronic wounds from diabetes or burns. The research was published in leading scientific journal Nature Communications.
Complications in the healing of chronic wounds are prevalent in patients suffering from diabetes or burn injuries, and are a leading cause of amputation and decreased emotional wellbeing for patients. During injury, a major chunk of extracellular matrix (ECM)—which helps to rebuild tissue—is lost, therefore delaying wound healing. As such, the timely replenishment of key ECM proteins may accelerate wound healing.
In this study, researchers have shown that timely induction or exogenous supplementation of Agrin, an ECM protein, may promote accelerated healing of injured skin tissues. Using both human and pre-clinical models, they found that physical injury to the skin tissue enhanced the expression of Agrin, which preserves the mechanical architecture of injured skin layers by repairing the skin tissue.
The team also discovered that a recombinant fragment of Agrin that can be easily produced, sAgrin, may serve as a bio-additive material to improve healing when applied as a topical hydrogel to the injured skin. These findings would advance the development of Agrin-based bio-scaffolds that could offer accelerated skin tissue healing by restoring the damaged tissue.
“We found that in our preclinical wound healing models, Agrin protein therapy offers accelerated healing, compared to collagen gels that are in the market. Besides healing wounds at a faster pace, Agrin therapy preserves the wound microenvironment that enforces better repair mechanisms than existing controls used in the study. The findings offer the potential for developing Agrin-based wound healing biomaterials that could help patients with chronic wounds,” said the lead researcher of the study.
“Recent studies from various labs in the scientific community have implicated a role of Agrin in repair and regeneration of diverse tissues and organs. This study may offer a novel approach for regenerative medicine beyond conventional chronic wound treatments and improve health outcomes,” said the senior corresponding author of the study.
Moving forward, the research team plans to extend testing of sAgrin therapy on pre-clinical wound healing models to improve the efficacy of the study, as well as to develop bioprinted scaffolds with Agrin that could help to repair damaged tissue.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-26717-7
http://sciencemission.com/site/index.php?page=news&type=view&id=publications%2Fagrin-matrix&filter=22
An ECM protein for efficient skin wound healing
- 1,281 views
- Added
Latest News
How the brain fine-tunes it…
By newseditor
Posted 25 Apr
Immune cells carry a long-l…
By newseditor
Posted 25 Apr
Mutations in noncoding DNA…
By newseditor
Posted 24 Apr
More influence of environme…
By newseditor
Posted 24 Apr
The assembly of the human c…
By newseditor
Posted 24 Apr
Other Top Stories
Role of a caspase in fatty liver disease
Read more
Antioxidant defender protects against osteoarthritis
Read more
New neurons in the inner ear discovered!
Read more
Speedy recovery after brain injury may involve early activity rathe…
Read more
Aspirin found not to prolong healthy aging
Read more
Protocols
A programmable targeted pro…
By newseditor
Posted 23 Apr
MemPrep, a new technology f…
By newseditor
Posted 08 Apr
A tangible method to assess…
By newseditor
Posted 08 Apr
Stem cell-derived vessels-o…
By newseditor
Posted 06 Apr
Single-cell biclustering fo…
By newseditor
Posted 01 Apr
Publications
The MYCN 50 UTR as a therap…
By newseditor
Posted 25 Apr
Control of neuronal excitat…
By newseditor
Posted 25 Apr
Epithelial UNC-23 limits me…
By newseditor
Posted 25 Apr
Macrophage memories of earl…
By newseditor
Posted 25 Apr
A gut-derived hormone regul…
By newseditor
Posted 25 Apr
Presentations
Hydrogels in Drug Delivery
By newseditor
Posted 12 Apr
Lipids
By newseditor
Posted 31 Dec
Cell biology of carbohydrat…
By newseditor
Posted 29 Nov
RNA interference (RNAi)
By newseditor
Posted 23 Oct
RNA structure and functions
By newseditor
Posted 19 Oct
Posters
A chemical biology/modular…
By newseditor
Posted 22 Aug
Single-molecule covalent ma…
By newseditor
Posted 04 Jul
ASCO-2020-HEALTH SERVICES R…
By newseditor
Posted 23 Mar
ASCO-2020-HEAD AND NECK CANCER
By newseditor
Posted 23 Mar
ASCO-2020-GENITOURINARY CAN…
By newseditor
Posted 23 Mar