Diabetic ulcers, a difficult problem faced by clinicians, are strongly associated with an increase in cellular senescence. Few empirical studies have focused on exploring a targeted strategy to cure diabetic wounds by eliminating senescent fibroblasts (SFs) and reducing side effects. In this study, poly-l-lysine/sodium alginate (PLS) is modified with talabostat (PT100) and encapsulates a PARP1 plasmid (PARP1@PLS-PT100) for delivery to target the dipeptidyl peptidase 4 (DPP4) receptor and eliminate SFs. PARP1@PLS-PT100 releases encapsulated plasmids, displaying high selectivity for SFs over normal fibroblasts by targeting the DPP4 receptor, decreasing senescence-associated secretory phenotypes (SASPs), and stimulating the secretion of anti-inflammatory factors. Furthermore, the increased apoptosis of SFs and the disappearance of cellular senescence alleviates SASPs, accelerates re-epithelialization and collagen deposition, and significantly induces macrophage M2 polarization, which mediates tissue repair and the inflammatory response. This innovative strategy has revealed the previously undefined role of PARP1@PLS-PT100 in promoting diabetic wound healing, suggesting its therapeutic potential in refractory wound repair.
Keywords: DPP4 receptor; diabetic wound healing; nanospheres; selective targeting; senescence.
© 2021 The Authors. Advanced Science published by Wiley-VCH GmbH.