Aerogel-hydrogel biphase gels based on physically crosslinked β-lactoglobulin fibrils/polyvinyl alcohol for skin wound dressings: In vitro and in vivo characterization

Rapid and effective skin wound healing is still a challenge in clinical practice. Introducing a new kind of protein-based natural polymers to develop aerogel-hydrogel biphase gel (AHB-gel) dressings with the dual advantages of aerogel and hydrogel is a promising strategy for wound dressing design. In this work, AHB-gel dressings based on β-lactoglobulin fibrils (BLGFs) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) were successfully prepared. First, micrometer-long and relatively stable BLGFs were prepared by heating β-lactoglobulin monomers (BLGMs) at pH 2.0. Then, a repeated freeze-thawing process was applied to promote the physical crosslinking between BLGFs and PVA. Finally, a lyophilization process was used to obtain the AHB-gel dressings. It has been demonstrated that the incorporation of BLGFs endowed the AHB-gel dressings with microporous structures and improved the performances of the AHB-gel dressings, including properties of interacting with liquid, the maintenance of softness, and the in vitro biocompatibility. In addition, the animal experiments confirmed that the AHB-gel dressings can boost wound healing. Overall, the outcomes revealed that BLGFs are a kind of natural polymers with enormous potential for tissue engineering applications and the AHB-gel is a promising form of wound dressings. Moreover, the manufacturing method used in this work is facile and efficient, which is suitable for large-scale production.