Gold-Nanorod-Based Scaffolds for Wound-Healing Applications

Controlling local and systemic factors during the wound-healing process, including inflammation, proliferation, and maturation, can play a key role in effective wound healing. It is worth taking advantage of matrix- or scaffold-based therapeutic approaches. Herein, a gold nanorod (GNR)-incorporated poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA)/poly(caprolactone) (PCL) scaffold was developed to improve the wound-healing effect by controlling heat shock protein (HSP70) via external light stimulation. The GNR-incorporated scaffold showed no harmful effects on the cells and could stimulate cell proliferation in vitro by generating mild heat generation in a timely manner with laser irradiation. A GNR-incorporated scaffold attached to the wound of mice effectively increased the local temperature to 40 °C after laser irradiation, more effectively promoting HSP70 expression and the wound-healing process compared to that of conventional dressing- and scaffold-treated mice. The GNR-incorporated scaffold and timely control HSP70 expression approach can be used as a promising wound-healing strategy for improving the therapeutic effect.