A Biomimetic Polynucleotides–Hyaluronic Acid Hydrogel Promotes Wound Healing in a Primary Gingival Fibroblast Model

Abstract

Polynucleotides (PN) have long been known as an effective supportive therapy for wound healing. The present study investigated whether a hydrogel formulation containing PN and hyaluronic acid (PN + HA) could promote wound healing in an in vitro model of gingival fibroblasts. PN promoted cell growth and viability as assessed by different assays, and PN + HA, though not significantly further increasing cell growth as compared to PN, supported the formation of dense multilayered cell nodules. PN promoted fibroblasts’ clonogenic efficiency and PN + HA further enhanced the formation of more numerous dense colonies. PN + HA appeared to significantly increase the expression of collagen 1a1 and 3a1, while not affecting proteoglycans deposition. Interestingly, when tested in a scratch assay, PN + HA achieved gap closure after 48 h, while cells in the comparison groups had not completely bridged the scratch even after 96 h. Taken together, these results demonstrate that PN + HA is a promising candidate for a supportive therapy to promote soft tissue healing in the oral cavity.