Abstract
In our previous study, human fibroblast growth factor 1 was successfully fused with oleosomes, energy-storing organelles of seeds, which are considered to be excellent "expression carriers" for substances with a convenient purification process. The present work aimed to explore the beneficial effects of oleosomes fused with human fibroblast growth factor 1 (OLAF) on wound healing. The data showed marked improvements in terms of the angiogenesis, vascular integrity, collagen and inflammation on the wound sites of rats with a full-thickness skin defect. Moreover, the positive role of OLAF in promoting angiogenesis and its possible pathways were clarified in vivo and in vitro. The results showed that the number, length and branches of the blood vessels of the chick embryo chorioallantoic membrane were markedly increased after OLAF treatment. Meanwhile, the in vitro results also revealed that 100 ng/mL OLAF exhibited a promoting effect on the proliferation, migration and tube formation of human umbilical vein endothelial cells. In addition, the potential of OLAF to improve wound angiogenesis was demonstrated to be associated with an up-regulated PI3K/Akt pathway by transcriptome sequencing analysis and the introduction of a PI3K/Akt pathway inhibitor (LY294002). These findings suggest that OLAF has many prospects in the development of drugs for wound healing.