Hope for patients with chronic wounds

Stockholm: Most wounds clear up by themselves, but some fail to heal and become chronic. An international team of researchers led from Karolinska Institutet, now unveil the important role of so-called microRNAs in regulating skin wound healing, pointing to new therapeutic possibilities for the treatment of hard-to-heal wounds.
Chronic wounds affect 0.2-1% of the population in developed countries and represent an increasing health problem and an economic burden to society. Current treatments focus on optimising controllable factors such as clearing infections. There is a major medical need for treatments that have a direct impact on the wound healing process, and this is why the researchers set out to find therapeutic targets for chronic skin wounds.

Electromagnetic waves, similar to those emitted by mobile phones, could be used to treat chronic wounds

Scimex: Electromagnetic waves similar to those emitted by cell phones may hold promise for treatment of chronic wounds by enhancing wound blood supply. To develop this idea into a practical therapy, it is critical to understand how electromagnetic signals get rearranged within different compartments of blood vessel-forming cells, and how the cell environment influences signals. We presented a numeric study which shows Electromagnetic waves similar to those emitted by cell phones may hold promise for treatment of chronic wounds by enhancing wound blood supply. We expect the study to contribute to development of non-contact, non-pharmacological treatments of chronic wounds.

Zooming into wound healing

Frankfurt: Scientists from the Goethe University (GU) Frankfur explain skin fusion at a molecular level and pinpoint the specific molecules that do the job in their latest publication in the journal Nature Cell Biology. In order to prevent death by bleeding or infection, every wound (skin opening) must close at some point. The events leading to skin closure had been unclear for many years. Mikhail Eltsov (GU) and colleagues used fruit fly embryos as a model system to understand this process. Similarly to humans, fruit fly embryos at some point in their development have a large opening in the skin on their back that must fuse. This process is called zipping, because two sides of the skin are fastened in a way that resembles a zipper that joins two sides of a jacket.

Two million euro grant for supergel wound dressing

Radboud University. Netherlands: A Biomimetic Hydrogel for smart wound dressings will be made on basis of a super gel from Radboud University with the help of a large grant from ZonMW.
Imagine spraying on a smart liquid wound dressing, which immediately gelates, covering the wound, filling even deep ulcer wounds. A dressing which has nanosized pores which allows water to escape yet prevents bacteria from getting in, yet is smart and triggers rapid healing, stimulating the cells to grow in an ordered fashion preventing scarring. A smart material, which mimics the extracellular matrix found in your body aiding wound repair, yet can be easily applied and removed. This ideal dream material is at hand.