the hydrogel
formed is both highly porous (Fig. 2), non-cytotoxic to dermal fibroblasts
and does not hinder their proliferation (Figs. 5–7).
Therefore, a further investigation of the application of this system
in wound healing was conducted. As alluded to previously, compared
to other ratios, the 5:5 of Odex-III:CEC has the highest theoretical
crosslinking density and the resulted hydrogel is more
stable (Fig. 4). Hence, the precursor of Odex-III/CEC mix (5:5) was
applied to mouse full-thickness transcutaneous wound models
(n ¼ 7 per group) to form hydrogel in situ. Fig. 8 shows a set of
typical wound beds shortly after the surgical procedure and closure
with Tegaderm. The healing patterns after 7 days post-implantation
were examined. From gross observation, the wound beds of
the group treated with Odex/CEC hydrogel were considerably
smaller as compared to those of the controls treated with PBS
(result not shown). The histological sections of two typical wound
beds were depicted in Fig. 9.