A new generation of optimized wound healing peptides: Towards enhanced therapeutic efficacy of host defense peptides in chronic wounds

The aim of this project is to lay the scientific foundation for the development of a peptide-based therapeutic platform for the treatment of chronic wounds.

Peptides with wound healing-related activities will be designed and optimized to overcome the main limitations of the clinical use of host defense peptides (HDPs) (i.e. toxicity and poor bioavailability).

Moreover, the project will investigate strategies for the incorporation of the novel peptides into nanocellulose-based wound dressings, aiming at the effective delivery of the active molecules to the wound.

The specific tasks are: 1) peptide design where peptide sequences will be tailored for specific wound healing activities (e.g. antibiofilm, immunomodulation, modulation of skin cells), 2) explore peptide dimerization and cyclisation to improve the stability and wound healing activities of the peptides, 3) in vitro cell studies to evaluate the bioactivity, stability and safety of the novel HDPs, 4) investigate HDP formulations such as environment-responsive hydrogels and surface-immobilized peptides, using nanocellulose as the core wound dressing, 5) in vivo studies where selected bioactive formulations will be tested for their ability to promote the resolution of chronic wounds in animal models.

The knowledge acquired is foreseen to create the basis necessary for developing a new generation of HDP formulations for biomedical applications and contribute to fulfil the unmet needs in the treatment of chronic wounds.