The human amniotic membrane dressing has been shown to accelerate
the wound healing process in the clinic. In this study, heparin was
conjugated to a human Acellular Amniotic Membrane (hAAM) to provide
affinity binding sites for immobilizing growth factors. To study the
acceleration of the wound healing process, we bound epidermal growth
factor and fibroblast growth factor 1 to heparinized hAAMs
(GF-Hep-hAAMs). The heparinized hAAMs (Hep-hAAMs) were characterized by
toluidine blue staining and infrared spectroscopy. The quality control
of hAAM was performed by hematoxylin staining, swelling capacity test
and biomechanical evaluation. The cytotoxicity, adhesion, and migration
in vitro assays of GF-Hep-hAAMs on L-929 fibroblast cells were also
studied by MTT assay, scanning electron microscopy, and scratch assay,
respectively. Finally, in vivo skin wound healing study was performed to
investigate the wound closure rate, re-epithelization, collagen
deposition, and formation of new blood vessels. The results showed that
GF-Hep-hAAMs enhance the rate of wound closure and epidermal
regeneration in BALB/c mice. In conclusion, GF-Hep-hAAMs could
accelerate the wound healing process, significantly in the first week.