Hypertrophic scars, characterized by excessive cell proliferation, disordered cell growth, and aberrant deposition of collagens, could cause significant clinical problems. Herein, aligned carbon nanotubes (ACNTs) were synthesized via chemical vapor deposition, and bulk ACNTs were pulled out from the arrays. The capacity of the ACNTs to reduce hypertrophic scar formation was evaluated both in vitro and in vivo. The results demonstrated that the ACNTs suppressed the over proliferation of fibroblast cells, directed their growth, and inhibited collagen expression in vitro without cell cytotoxicity. Moreover, in vivo evaluation in a rabbit ear model indicated relieved scar hypertrophy after the ACNTs treatment. The gene expression microarray was further used to understand the mechanism, which showed that ACNTs could inhibit the TGF beta pathway to alter the components in the extracellular matrix, cell proliferation, cell cytoskeleton, and cell motility. These findings may provide a potent strategy of using carbon nanotubes in the bioengineering field.
[1]Second Mil Med Univ, Shanghai Changhai Hosp, Dept Orthopaed Trauma, Shanghai 200433, Peoples R China;
[2]Second Mil Med Univ, Shanghai Changhai Hosp, Dept Ophthalmol, Shanghai 200433, Peoples R China;
[3]Second Mil Med Univ, Shanghai Changhai Hosp, Grad Management Unit, Shanghai 200433, Peoples R China;
[4]Fudan Univ, Dept Macromol Sci, State Key Lab Mol Engn Polymers, Shanghai 200438, Peoples R China;
[5]Fudan Univ, Adv Mat Lab, Shanghai 200438, Peoples R China
(8.0+极速模式)