Development of nitric oxide releasing visible light crosslinked gelatin methacrylate hydrogel for rapid closure of diabetic wounds

Management of non-healing and slow to heal diabetic wounds is a major concern in healthcare across the world. Numerous techniques have been investigated to solve the issue of delayed wound healing, though, mostly unable to promote complete healing of diabetic wounds due to the lack of proper cell proliferation, poor cell-cell communication, and higher chances of wound infections. These challenges can be minimized by using hydrogel based wound healing patches loaded with bioactive agents. Gelatin methacrylate (GelMA) has been proven to be a highly cell friendly, cell adhesive, and inexpensive biopolymer for various tissue engineering and wound healing applications. In this study, S-Nitroso-N-acetylpenicillamine (SNAP), a nitric oxide (NO) donor, was incorporated in a highly porous GelMA hydrogel patch to improve cell proliferation, facilitate rapid cell migration, and enhance diabetic wound healing. We adopted a visible light crosslinking method to fabricate this highly porous biodegradable but relatively stable patch. Developed patches were characterized for morphology, NO release, cell proliferation and migration, and diabetic wound healing in a rat model. The obtained results indicate that SNAP loaded visible light crosslinked GelMA hydrogel patches can be highly effective in promoting diabetic wound healing.