ZIF-8/Curcumin-Loaded Electrospun Nanofiber Membrane for Wound Healing

Abstract

Conventional clinical dressings have limited antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant activities and are unable to maintain moisture in wounds. To overcome the aforementioned limitations of conventional medical materials, it is urgent to develop multifunctional materials that can accelerate wound healing in clinical practice. In this study, a composite of polycaprolactone (PCL) and curcumin-incorporated zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (denoted as PCL/ZIF-8/CUR) was prepared by using a seed-free soaking method. PCL/ZIF-8/CUR exhibited excellent biocompatibility, permeability, thermal stability, hydrophilicity, and antibacterial activity, and H2O2-scavenging efficiency reached 95.01 ± 0.15%. Moreover, ZIF-8/CUR exhibited pH-responsive controlled release of Zn2+ in an acidic environment. The concentration of Zn2+ at pH 5.5 was approximately 3-fold that at pH 7.5. In vitro and in vivo studies and immunohistochemical staining revealed that PCL/ZIF-8/CUR promotes wound healing by upregulating angiogenesis factors and downregulating inflammatory factors. The PCL/ZIF-8/CUR nanofiber membrane is a potentially ideal substitute for conventional wound dressings in future clinical applications.