Fungal biopolymer-based nanoparticles for wound healing: Mechanisms, applications, and future perspectives

Abstract

Fungal derived biopolymers have emerged as a promising alternative to the existing synthetic materials and have gained heightened interest in wound healing platforms due to their unique properties, such as durability, biodegradability, biocompatibility, low-toxicity, non-immunogenicity, and analogy to the native extracellular matrix. Major fungal biopolymers such as chitin, chitosan, β-glucan, mannan, and pullulans offer several biomedical and clinical advantages in wound healing to remodel the injured tissue, making them suitable for accelerating the various phases of wound healing. These biopolymers not only support cell proliferation, angiogenesis, and tissue remodelling but also serve as effective carriers for controlled drug delivery, enhancing the efficacy of therapeutic agents to accelerate the cellular responses at the wound site. The review also outlines the biological processes involved in various phases of wound healing to provide insight into future explorations in developing optimized wound dressings that ensure maximal reduction of inflammation and allow skin to remodulate. Fungal-mediated nanoparticles and hybrid nanocomposites have further improved the functional performance of wound dressings by providing increased mechanical stability, biocompatibility, and targeted bioactivity. Collectively, these findings highlight the significant role of fungal biopolymer-based nanoparticles as a novel, sustainable, and effective regime for advanced wound management.