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Seaweeds are rich in fucoidan, which has various biologic effects. So far, a lot of research has been conducted on the biological effects of fucoidan extracted from various species of seaweed. However, the effects of partially purified extract of Sargassum angustifolium (PPE-SA) on wound healing (cell migration) of adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (ADMSCs) have not yet been studied. In this experimental study, crude fucoidan was extracted from S. angustifolium using an advanced method. After removing lipids, pigments and low molecular weight compounds with ethanol and removal of alginate with CaCl2, polysaccharides in the remaining material were extracted with hot water (60ºC). The polysaccharides of the resulting extract were precipitated with ethanol. Then, the wound healing and safety of PPE-SA on ADMSCs were investigated by MTT and the scratch assay, respectively. The MTT assay showed that PPE-SA did not only have a negative effect on the growth of mesenchymal cells but at some concentrations improved their growth by up to 1.5 times. The PPE-SA also increased ADMSCs migration by 76% and 142% after 48 h and 72 h incubation, which showed the superiority of this seaweeds extract over many other reported species and genera. The results of this study showed that an extract of this seaweed obtained by this method has the potential to promote the growth of mesenchymal stem cells and may have a high potential for use in tissue engineering applications.

Wound healing is a complex pathophysiological process, highlighting the importance of effective and thorough wound care along with the prevention of wound infection, a major barrier that can slow down or even disrupt the healing process. To date, there are plenty of herbal plants well known and historically supernatural, showing profound wound healing effects. Application of such herbal extracts/ingredients in electrospun nanofiber platforms has shown promising outcomes in improving wound healing process. Based on these facts, we loaded Calendula officinalis extract (CO) in chitosan/polyethylene oxide scaffolds (CS/PEO) by electrospinning. Using SEM, morphology of electrospun scaffolds showed a narrow range of fiber diameter, around 143–-252 nm, with uniform and bead-free appearance. FT-IR spectroscopy confirmed the presence of CO extract in nanofibrous scaffolds. Of importance, incorporation of CO extract improved mechanical properties of CS/PEO nanofibers. A 1602 cP reduction in viscosity and a 0.892 ms/cm increase in the conductivity of the solution was observed after addition of the CO extract. CO extract showed strong antibacterial properties with 96% and 94% reduction in Gram positive and Gram negative bacteria, respectively. In vitro studies with fibroblast cells confirmed enhanced proliferation, growth and attachment of the cells. The in vivo and histological analysis of rat wounds, revealed excellent wound healing ability of CS/PEO/CO dressings (87.5 % wound closure after 14 days) via improving collagen synthesis, re-epithelization and remodeling of the tissue. In sum, our findings show that CS/PEO/CO scaffolds can be used as a promising dressing for the treatment of skin wounds.