Bioengineered Hybrid Collagen Scaffold Tethered with Silver‐Catechin Nanocomposite Modulates Angiogenesis and TGF‐β Toward Scarless Healing in Chronic Deep Second Degree Infected Burns

Management of burn wounds with diabetes and microbial infection is challenging in tissue engineering. The delayed wound healing further leads to scar formation in severe burn injury. Herein, a silver‐catechin nanocomposite tethered collagen scaffold with angiogenic and antibacterial properties is developed to enable scarless healing in chronic wounds infected with Pseudomonas aeruginosa under diabetic conditions. Histological observations of the granulation tissues collected from an experimental rat model show characteristic structural organizations similar to normal skin, whereas the open wound and pristine collagen scaffold treated animals display elevated dermis with thick epidermal layer and lack of appendages. Epidermal thickness of the hybrid scaffold treated diabetic animals is lowered to 33 ± 2 µm compared to 90 ± 2 µm for pristine collagen scaffold treated groups. Further, the scar elevation index of 1.3 ± 0.1 estimated for the bioengineered scaffold treated diabetic animals is closer to the normal skin. Immunohistochemical analyses provide compelling evidence for the enhanced angiogenesis as well as downregulated transforming growth factor‐ β1 (TGF‐β1) and upregulated TGF‐β3 expressions in the hybrid scaffold treated animal groups. The insights from this study endorse the bioengineered collagen scaffolds for applications in tissue regeneration without scar in chronic burn wounds. Collagen based bioengineered scaffolds loaded with silver‐catechin nanocomposite elicit a significant increase in the angiogenesis and transforming growth factor‐β3 (TGF‐β3) expression and decrease in the TGF‐β1 expression. The scaffolds can heal infected burn wounds with low scarring surprisingly in type‐I diabetic animals and lead to a systematic skin reconstruction thereby demonstrating potential for application in chronic wound management.