Plumbagin caged silver nanoparticle stabilized collagen scaffold for wound dressing.

The present work describes the development of a novel wound dressing material based on nano-biotechnological intervention by caging plumbagin on silver nanoparticle (PCSN) as a multi-site cross-linking agent of collagen scaffolds with potent anti-microbial and wound healing activity. Cross-linking of collagen with PCSN enhanced the physical, thermal, and mechanical properties along with the kinetics of micro structural fibril assembly of the collagen molecule. FTIR and CD analysis revealed that cross-linking of collagen using PCSN did not induce any structural changes in the collagen molecule. Further, cross-linking of collagen with PCSN resulted in uniform alignment of collagen fibrils to form orderly aligned porous structured scaffolds with potent anti-bacterial activity that in turn enhanced its ability to promote cell proliferation and wound healing. The cross-linking ability, and biochemical and therapeutic properties of plumbagin caged silver nanoparticles were attributed to the cumulative effect of plumbagin and silver nanoparticles because individual molecules had minimal effect on these parameters.