Innovative Treatments for Accelerated Wound Healing
摘要
The wound healing landscape is entering a new age, as our ability to characterize novel pathways and therapeutic targets continues to expand rapidly with the rise of single-cell transcriptomics technologies [1]. Our therapeutic toolbox has grown to encompass not only small molecule-based drugs but also innovative gene delivery and protein engineering techniques to target newly characterized pathways more precisely [2]. The realm of accelerated wound healing, a field that began with the experimental use of growth factors in the 1980s, is now a showcase of complex advancements in biomedical sciences designed to alter the biology of failed wound healing. Although growth factor-based therapies remain in use, emerging technologies will likely forever change the multi-billion-dollar industry dedicated to wound care [3]. Small molecule inhibitors can now target precise protein–protein interactions in wound healing pathways, and tunable biomaterials allow for the release of growth factors, metals, cellular products, and gene therapy vectors into the local wound environment. This chapter details the latest data surrounding the creative approaches currently in use and under investigation.