Effect of Silicone Patch Containing Metal-organic Framework on Hypertrophic Scar Suppression

• Published in: In vivo (Athens) Vol. 38; no. 1; pp. 235 - 245
• Main Authors: Zhang, Xin Rui, Ryu, Unjin, Najmiddinov, Bakhtiyor, Trinh, Thuy-Tien Thi, Choi, Kyung Min, Nam, Sun-Young, Heo, Chan Yeong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Greece International Institute of Anticancer Research 01-01-2024
• Subjects: Animals; Cicatrix, Hypertrophic - metabolism; Cicatrix, Hypertrophic - pathology; Collagen - metabolism; Collagen Type I - metabolism; Collagen Type I - pharmacology; Fibroblasts; Metal-Organic Frameworks - metabolism; Metal-Organic Frameworks - pharmacology; Rabbits; Transforming Growth Factor beta1 - metabolism; Transforming Growth Factor beta1 - pharmacology; metal-organic frameworks (MOF); transforming growth factor β1 (TGF- β1); silicone patch; alpha-smooth muscle actin (α- SMA); Hypertrophic scar; Zr-MOF-808; myofibroblasts
• ISSN: 0258-851X; 1791-7549
• DOI: 10.21873/invivo.13430

Hypertrophic scars (HS) are an abnormal cutaneous condition of wound healing characterized by excessive fibrosis and disrupted collagen deposition. This study assessed the potential of a silicone patch embedded with chemically stable zirconium-based metal-organic frameworks (MOF)-808 structures to mitigate HS formation using a rabbit ear model.
A silicone patch was strategically engineered by incorporating Zr-MOF-808, a composite structure comprising metal ions and organic ligands. Structural integrity of the Zr-MOF-808 silicone patch was validated using scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction analysis. The animals were divided into three groups: a control, no treatment group (Group 1), a silicone patch treatment group (Group 2), and a group treated with a 0.2% loaded Zr-MOF-808 silicone patch (Group 3). HS suppression effects were quantified using scar elevation index (SEI), dorsal skin thickness measurements, and myofibroblast protein expression.
Histopathological examination of post-treatment HS samples revealed substantial reductions in SEI (34.6%) and epidermal thickness (49.5%) in Group 3. Scar hyperplasia was significantly diminished by 53.5% (p<0.05), while collagen density declined by 15.7% in Group 3 compared to Group 1. Western blot analysis of protein markers, including TGF-β1, collagen-1, and α-SMA, exhibited diminished levels by 8.8%, 12%, and 21.3%, respectively, in Group 3, and substantially higher levels by 21.9%, 27%, and 39.9%, respectively, in Group 2. On the 35th day post-wound generation, Zr-MOF-808-treated models exhibited smoother, less conspicuous, and flatter scars.
Zr-MOF-808-loaded silicone patch reduced HS formation in rabbit ear models by inducing the proliferation and remodeling of the wound healing process.