DEVELOPMENT OF AN ARG-GLY-ASP-BASED WOUND HEALING AGENT

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The slow healing or lack of healing of wounds such as decubitus ulcers, severe burns and diabetic ulcers is a serious medical problem in this country, affecting millions of individuals and causing severe pain or death in many patients. A major factor contributing to the poor healing response seen in these patients is the destruction of specific extracellular matrix proteins. Cells interact with these matrix components through Arg-Gly-Asp sequences present in such molecules as fibronectin, vitronectin, collagen, and tenacin. Such attachment allows the cells to move through the matrix, as in fibroblast migration into wounds. By providing a synthetic matrix, we believe that we can influence the healing process in wounds such as the type mentioned above. This work is designed to develop a synthetic matrix composed of RGD- containing peptides coupled to a biodegradable polymer, thereby providing a method of stimulating cell migration into the wound in a time expected to be shorter than if the cells were required to synthesize the matrix themselves. We will analyze each of three components (peptide, polymer, and coupling chemistry) to achieve a compound which behaves best in in vitro assays designed for this purpose. The material will then be tested in an accepted animal wound healing model to determine if healing time and integrity of the healing wound bed can be affected.