N26 - Assessment of self-assembling peptide hydrogels for stimulating wound healing

Saturday, October 11, 2025

10:00 AM - 11:00 AM PDT

Location: Exhibit Hall F, G & H

Presenting Author(s)

HR

Harrison Rohe-Weiner

Undergraduate student
New Jersey Institute of Technology, New Jersey, United States

Co-Author(s)

AR

Abhishek Roy, PhD

Post Doctoral Research Fellow
University of Houston
Harrison, New Jersey, United States
Bobak Shadpoor

Graduate Student
New Jersey Institute of Technology
NEWARK, New Jersey, United States
Gelavizh Gharati

Graduate Student
New Jersey Institute of Technology
Harrison, New Jersey, United States
CH

Corey Heffernan

Research Professor
New Jersey Institute of Technology
Newark, New Jersey, United States

Primary Investigator(s)

Vivek Kumar, PhD

Associate Professor
University of Houston
Houston, Texas, United States

Introduction: : Wound healing is a complex process that aims to repair both the acellular extracellular matrix and cellular components through 4 different phases - hemostasis, inflammation, proliferation, and remodeling. Fulfillment of these canonical stages is required for effective tissue regeneration. Previous research has shown that self-assembling peptide hydrogels (SAPH) are highly suitable for promoting wound healing (1,2). Our peptides are functionalized with a growth factor mimicking domain at the terminal end of the peptide and maintain their ability to self-assemble into nanofibrous hydrogels. Since the self-assembly is mediated by non-covalent linkages, these hydrogels have shear-thinning and shear-recovery properties, making them suitable as injectable scaffolds. Previous work has established the therapeutic efficacy of soluble growth factors in wound healing models, such as critical limb ischemia (3); however, administration of soluble growth factors is known to result in ectopic/off-target effects, rapid diffusion from the site of administration, and degradation into unwanted metabolic byproducts. Accordingly, this work investigates the current gap in literature by using localizable thixotropic SAPHs that mimic the effects of growth factors using an in-vitro 2D overlay cytocompatibility study and hypoxia survival assay with C2C12 myoblasts, and a wound healing scratch assay with HUVECs.

Materials and

Methods: : Peptides were synthesized in-house using Fmoc solid-phase peptide synthesis. In the 2D overlay cytocompatibility assay, SAPHs were deposited into untreated 96-well plates and the plates were centrifuged to achieve uniform distribution of the hydrogel. Cells were overlaid onto the scaffold and allowed to acclimate for 24 hours in complete media. After 24-hrs, serum-free conditioned media was added and cell viability was quantified with Live/Dead staining at 24-. 48-, and 72-hrs. Fluorescent images were captured using a fluorescent ECHO microscope. Wound healing scratch assays were performed by seeding HUVECs into 6-well culture plates and a scratch was performed on the base of the plate after 48-hours of acclimation and serum starvation. Cells were cultured with peptide conditioned media and quantified for scratch closure over the 0- , 6-, and 24- hr timepoints. For the hypoxia survival assay, C2C12 cells were seeded into 96-well culture plates and placed into an airtight chamber with anaeropaks to simulate hypoxic conditions. Cells were allowed to culture in the hypoxic condition for 4, 8, and 24 hours with peptide conditioned media and Live/Dead staining was used to quantify cell viability.

Results, Conclusions, and Discussions:: Results from the 2D overlay assay showed that our SAPH had around 85% cell viability for 24 hours and 69% for 48 and 72 hours. In the wound scratch assay, our SAPH showed almost 98% wound closure after 24 hours, while our structural SAPH and commercially available Puramatrix showed an equal 62% closure after 24 hours. A serum free media control showed almost no closure after 24 hours. The hypoxia survival assay showed that the SAPH showed an 84% viability after 24 hours while mimic peptide and structural SAPH controls showed a 78% viability. A DMEM only control showed a 61% viability after 24 hrs.
Our SAPH was cytocompatible with C2C12s up to 72 hours in vitro in the 2D overlay assay. Wound healing scratch assays showed that our SAPH promotes the migration of HUVECs. The hypoxia survival assay showed that our SAPH supported the survival of C2C12 myoblast cells in a hypoxic environment. Ongoing experiments are further evaluating the in vivo tissue healing properties of SAPHs in an in vivo critical limb ischemia model. Future experiments will build upon the combination of different growth factor mimicking SAPHs to more closely recapitulate canonical wound healing.

Acknowledgements and/or References (Optional): :