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Wild-Type Scandinavian Planarian-Derived Extracellular Vesicles Accelerate Skin Wound Healing in Burn and Mechanical Injuries

Bjurling, Rakel LU ; Végh, Hanna LU ; Hetherington, Crispin LU orcid ; Yang, Jin Suck ; Olsson, Roger LU orcid and Hjort, Martin LU orcid (2026) In ACS Omega 11(13). p.20683-20690
Abstract

Skin wounds remain a clinical challenge, especially for burns and chronic wounds, and existing therapies seldom re-engage the rapid, scar-sparing repair programs observed in nature. Planarians are super-regenerators capable of rebuilding the entire organism from small fragments, and their extracellular vesicles might encode potent prorepair cues. But whether planarian-derived extracellular vesicles (EVs) can enhance mammalian skin healing is unknown. Therefore, we isolated EVs from a wild-type planarian flatworm collected in Sweden and evaluated their therapeutic activity in complementary wound models: a chicken chorioallantoic membrane assay and a human 3D skin model. In our models, planarian EVs significantly accelerated tissue... (More)

Skin wounds remain a clinical challenge, especially for burns and chronic wounds, and existing therapies seldom re-engage the rapid, scar-sparing repair programs observed in nature. Planarians are super-regenerators capable of rebuilding the entire organism from small fragments, and their extracellular vesicles might encode potent prorepair cues. But whether planarian-derived extracellular vesicles (EVs) can enhance mammalian skin healing is unknown. Therefore, we isolated EVs from a wild-type planarian flatworm collected in Sweden and evaluated their therapeutic activity in complementary wound models: a chicken chorioallantoic membrane assay and a human 3D skin model. In our models, planarian EVs significantly accelerated tissue regeneration and wound closure, and improved re-epithelialization and barrier integrity compared to controls. These data indicate that cross-species (xenogeneic) EVs from planarians carry bioactive factors capable of expediting cutaneous repair. Together, the results position planarian-derived EVs as a potential cell-free therapeutic strategy for burns and chronic wounds, motivating additional mechanistic and translational studies for clinical use.

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author
; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
ACS Omega
volume
11
issue
13
pages
20683 - 20690
publisher
The American Chemical Society (ACS)
external identifiers
  • pmid:41970828
  • scopus:105035029894
ISSN
2470-1343
DOI
10.1021/acsomega.5c11592
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
Publisher Copyright: © 2026 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society
id
a50c8df0-4c4f-464c-8d8e-4e20867070ea
date added to LUP
2026-04-28 11:02:53
date last changed
2026-05-12 11:54:56
@article{a50c8df0-4c4f-464c-8d8e-4e20867070ea,
  abstract     = {{<p>Skin wounds remain a clinical challenge, especially for burns and chronic wounds, and existing therapies seldom re-engage the rapid, scar-sparing repair programs observed in nature. Planarians are super-regenerators capable of rebuilding the entire organism from small fragments, and their extracellular vesicles might encode potent prorepair cues. But whether planarian-derived extracellular vesicles (EVs) can enhance mammalian skin healing is unknown. Therefore, we isolated EVs from a wild-type planarian flatworm collected in Sweden and evaluated their therapeutic activity in complementary wound models: a chicken chorioallantoic membrane assay and a human 3D skin model. In our models, planarian EVs significantly accelerated tissue regeneration and wound closure, and improved re-epithelialization and barrier integrity compared to controls. These data indicate that cross-species (xenogeneic) EVs from planarians carry bioactive factors capable of expediting cutaneous repair. Together, the results position planarian-derived EVs as a potential cell-free therapeutic strategy for burns and chronic wounds, motivating additional mechanistic and translational studies for clinical use.</p>}},
  author       = {{Bjurling, Rakel and Végh, Hanna and Hetherington, Crispin and Yang, Jin Suck and Olsson, Roger and Hjort, Martin}},
  issn         = {{2470-1343}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{04}},
  number       = {{13}},
  pages        = {{20683--20690}},
  publisher    = {{The American Chemical Society (ACS)}},
  series       = {{ACS Omega}},
  title        = {{Wild-Type Scandinavian Planarian-Derived Extracellular Vesicles Accelerate Skin Wound Healing in Burn and Mechanical Injuries}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acsomega.5c11592}},
  doi          = {{10.1021/acsomega.5c11592}},
  volume       = {{11}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}