Not only did wound healing occur more rapidly and completely, but actual regeneration occurred, with hair follicles and the skin's supportive collagen network restored in wounded skin--clinically important improvements that are unprecedented in wound care. This treatment has a wide range of applications, from playground cuts to war injuries to chronic wounds.

Chronic wounds alone harm 6.5 million Americans and cost the healthcare system $25 billion every year. Few breakthroughs have been made in the treatment of wounds of any kind over the last many decades.

An enzyme called fidgetin-like 2 (FL2) was found in 2015 that slows down skin cells as they migrate towards wounds to heal them. Reduced FL2 levels, they reasoned, would help repairing cells get to their destination faster. Small interfering RNA molecules (siRNAs) were later created to precisely inhibit the FL2 gene. When siRNAs were wrapped in nanoparticles and sprayed on skin wounds in mice, the treated wounds healed faster than untreated wounds.

Combining siRNAs with PluroGel, a protective gel that keeps wounds moist and has antibacterial qualities when applied to bandages and other wound dressings, improves the siRNAs' wound-healing capability.

siRNAs were encapsulated in collagen microparticles, a naturally occurring protein that rapidly releases its siRNA "cargo" when it comes into contact with the skin. Mice were given the FL2-siRNA/PluroGel combination via skin excisions or burns.

For comparison, animals treated with PluroGel alone and mice treated with PluroGel with siRNA that did not target the FL2 gene were utilised in both types of skin injuries. Wounds were treated the day of the skin amputation or burn, as well as two, four, and six days later. Wounds were examined for 14 days after the injuries by investigators who were "blinded" to the mice's treatment.

The open wound regions of mice in the two control groups were nearly twice as large as the wound areas of mice treated with the FL2-siRNA/PluroGel combination on the fourth day after mice were treated for excision wounds.

Hair follicles were also present in the wound zone of several mice treated with the combination therapy, but no such structures were found in the control mice. The wounds of mice in both control groups were more than one-third larger than those of mice treated with the FL2-siRNA/PluroGel combination 14 days after injury than those of mice treated with the FL2-siRNA/PluroGel combination. By day 14, all FL2-siRNA/PluroGel-treated mice's burn wounds had healed entirely; by comparison, 25% and 30% of treated lesions in the PluroGel and PluroGel/nontarget siRNA control groups, respectively, remained unhealed at that time.

These findings indicate that FL2-siRNA in combination with PluroGel is a highly promising wound therapy.

FL2-siRNA works by reducing FL2 levels in skin cells, allowing cells to reach wound sites more faster than they would otherwise, which is critical for minimising scarring and eliminating chronic wounds. PluroGel also provides crucial wound-healing advantages by moisturising wounds and suppressing bacteria.