Acceleration of diabetic wound healing using a novel protease–anti-protease combination therapy

Significance Chronic wounds in diabetic patients are a devastating complication of diabetes that can lead to amputations or even death. Our work in db/db mice shows that matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-9 contributes to delayed or impaired wound healing and that MMP-8 is involved in repairing the wound. A combination of a selective inhibitor of MMP-9 (a small molecule) and exogenously applied active recombinant MMP-8 (an enzyme) accelerates...