TY - JOUR

T1 - Probing skin barrier recovery on molecular level following acute wounds

T2 - An in vivo/ex vivo study on pigs

AU - Mojumdar, Enamul Haque

AU - Madsen, Lone Bruhn

AU - Hansson, Henri

AU - Taavoniku, Ida

AU - Kristensen, Klaus

AU - Persson, Christina

AU - Morén, Anna Karin

AU - Mokso, Rajmund

AU - Schmidtchen, Artur

AU - Ruzgas, Tautgirdas

AU - Engblom, Johan

PY - 2021

Y1 - 2021

N2 - Proper skin barrier function is paramount for our survival, and, suffering injury, there is an acute need to restore the lost barrier and prevent development of a chronic wound. We hypothesize that rapid wound closure is more important than immediate perfection of the barrier, whereas specific treatment may facilitate perfection. The aim of the current project was therefore to evaluate the quality of restored tissue down to the molecular level. We used Göttingen minipigs with a multi-technique approach correlating wound healing progression in vivo over three weeks, monitored by classical methods (e.g., histology, trans-epidermal water loss (TEWL), pH) and subsequent physicochemical characterization of barrier recovery (i.e., small and wide-angle X-ray diffraction (SWAXD), polarization transfer solid-state NMR (PTssNMR), dynamic vapor sorption (DVS), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR)), providing a unique insight into molecular aspects of healing. We conclude that although acute wounds sealed within two weeks as expected, molecular investigation of stratum corneum (SC) revealed a poorly developed keratin organization and deviations in lipid lamellae formation. A higher lipid fluidity was also observed in regenerated tissue. This may have been due to incomplete lipid conversion during barrier recovery as glycosphingolipids, normally not present in SC, were indicated by infrared FTIR spectroscopy. Evidently, a molecular approach to skin barrier recovery could be a valuable tool in future development of products targeting wound healing.

AB - Proper skin barrier function is paramount for our survival, and, suffering injury, there is an acute need to restore the lost barrier and prevent development of a chronic wound. We hypothesize that rapid wound closure is more important than immediate perfection of the barrier, whereas specific treatment may facilitate perfection. The aim of the current project was therefore to evaluate the quality of restored tissue down to the molecular level. We used Göttingen minipigs with a multi-technique approach correlating wound healing progression in vivo over three weeks, monitored by classical methods (e.g., histology, trans-epidermal water loss (TEWL), pH) and subsequent physicochemical characterization of barrier recovery (i.e., small and wide-angle X-ray diffraction (SWAXD), polarization transfer solid-state NMR (PTssNMR), dynamic vapor sorption (DVS), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR)), providing a unique insight into molecular aspects of healing. We conclude that although acute wounds sealed within two weeks as expected, molecular investigation of stratum corneum (SC) revealed a poorly developed keratin organization and deviations in lipid lamellae formation. A higher lipid fluidity was also observed in regenerated tissue. This may have been due to incomplete lipid conversion during barrier recovery as glycosphingolipids, normally not present in SC, were indicated by infrared FTIR spectroscopy. Evidently, a molecular approach to skin barrier recovery could be a valuable tool in future development of products targeting wound healing.

KW - Acute wound

KW - Histology

KW - In vivo/ex vivo

KW - Lipid

KW - PH

KW - Polarization transfer solid state NMR (PTssNMR)

KW - Skin barrier

KW - Small and wide-angle X-ray diffraction (SWAXD)

KW - Stratum corneum

KW - Trans-epidermal water loss (TEWL)

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85104499829&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.3390/biomedicines9040360

DO - 10.3390/biomedicines9040360

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 33807251

AN - SCOPUS:85104499829

VL - 9

JO - Biomedicines

JF - Biomedicines

SN - 2227-9059

IS - 4

M1 - 360

ER -