Photoactivated Hydrogen Sulfide Donor with a Near-Infrared Fluorescence Report System for Accelerated Chronic Wound Healing

Abstract

Delayed wound healing is one of the major diabetes complications that occur in 25% of diabetic patients. Specific wound management and combination treatment are required to repair the wound, which still remains a challenge with few effective therapies available currently. In this work, a new H₂S donor <b>PRO-F</b>, which is characterized by the capability to promote wound healing in diabetes, was designed. <b>PRO-F</b> can be activated by light without consuming endogenous substances and the accompanying fluorescent signal makes the real-time tracking of released H₂S possible. <b>PRO-F</b> is able to deliver H₂S in an intracellular environment with moderate release efficiency (50%), which presents cytoprotective effects against excessive reactive oxygen species (ROS) induced damage. Furthermore, the potential of <b>PRO-F</b> to enhance chronic wound healing was validated by employing diabetic models. This work provides new insights into the therapeutic role of H₂S donors in complex wound conditions, which should advance the pathophysiological research associated with H₂S.