Graded porous scaffolds as immunomodulatory wound patches

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12558453-B2
Application number	US-202318152456-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 10, 2023
Priority date	Apr 26, 2017
Publication date	Feb 24, 2026
Grant date	Feb 24, 2026

Abstract

The present invention provides porous biomimetic scaffolds and methods for making the same. The scaffolds have graded pore sizes for enhanced cell penetration. The scaffolds are useful for wound regeneration by facilitating cell penetration into the scaffold interior and due to their inherent immunomodulatory effects. The scaffolds have tissue modeling specification by mimicking the inherent stratified structure of certain tissues.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A scaffold comprising:
a porous material comprising plant protein fibers having a first surface, a second surface, and a thickness therebetween; wherein the average pore size at the first surface is smaller than the average pore size at the second surface; wherein the average pore size gradually increases through the material from the first surface to the second surface, and wherein the second surface is configured to allow the passage of cells into the thickness of the material, and the first surface is configured to prohibit the passage of cells into or out of the thickness of the material.

2 . The scaffold of claim 1 , wherein the plant protein is selected from the group consisting of: soy protein isolate, wheat gluten, corn zein, and pea protein.

3 . The scaffold of claim 1 , wherein the fibers have a diameter between 0.5 μm and 5 μm.

4 . The scaffold of claim 1 , wherein the scaffold has a thickness between 500 μm and 2000 μm.

5 . The scaffold of claim 1 , wherein the average pore size of the first surface is between 1 μm and 20 μm in diameter.

6 . The scaffold of claim 1 , wherein the average pore size of the second surface is between 10 μm and 200 μm.

7 . The scaffold of claim 1 , wherein the gradual increase of the average pore size is linear.

8 . The scaffold of claim 1 , wherein the gradual increase of the average pore size is nonlinear.

9 . The scaffold of claim 1 , wherein the scaffold is capable of supporting cell growth.

10 . The scaffold of claim 1 , further comprising at least one cell.

11 . The scaffold of claim 1 , further comprising at least one material selected from the group consisting of: fibronectin, laminin, collagen, glycoprotein, thrombospondin, elastin, fibrillin, mucopolysaccharide, glycolipid, heparin sulfate, chondroitin sulfate, keratin sulfate, glycosaminoglycan, hyaluronic acid, proteoglycan, vitronectin, poly-D-lysine, and polysaccharide.

12 . The scaffold of claim 1 , further comprising at least one material selected from the group consisting of poly(epsilon-caprolactone) (PCL), poly(lacticacid) (PLA), poly(glycolic acid) (PGA), copolymers poly (lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA), polyaniline, and poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO).

13 . The scaffold of claim 2 , wherein the plant protein is selected from the group consisting of: wheat gluten, corn zein, and pea protein.

14 . A scaffold comprising a porous material comprising plant protein fibers having a first surface, an opposing second surface, and a thickness therebetween, wherein the average pore size of the material gradually increases through the material thickness from the first surface to the second surface, wherein the first surface is configured to prohibit the passage of cells, and wherein the second surface is configured to allow cell penetration into the thickness of the material up to the first surface.

15 . The scaffold of claim 14 , wherein the porous material comprises fibers having a diameter between 0.5 μm and 5 μm.

16 . The scaffold of claim 14 , the thickness of the porous material is between 500 μm and 2000 μm.

17 . The scaffold of claim 14 , wherein the average pore size of the porous material gradually increases through the porous material from the first surface to the second surface.

18 . The scaffold of claim 14 , wherein the scaffold is capable of supporting cell growth.

19 . The scaffold of claim 14 , further comprising at least one cell.

20 . The scaffold of claim 14 , wherein the porous material comprises plant protein fibers.

Assignees

• Temple University—Of the Commonwealth System of Higher Education

Inventors

• Timnak Azadeh
• Lelkes Peter I
• Har-El Yah-El H

Classifications

• D10B2509/022

  Wound dressings · CPC title

• D01D5/003

  the material being a polymer solution or dispersion (D01D5/0053 takes precedence) · CPC title

• A61L27/56 Primary

  Porous materials, {e.g. foams or sponges} · CPC title

• A61L27/26

  Mixtures of macromolecular compounds · CPC title

• A61L15/32

  Proteins, polypeptides; Degradation products or derivatives thereof, e.g. albumin, collagen, fibrin, gelatin {(A61L15/225 takes precedence)} · CPC title