A bandage that acts like a tiny protein factory could speed up wound healing, researchers say.

Scientists at Rice University in Texas have developed a “living bandage” that continuously produces and delivers cytokines, healing proteins that regulate inflammation and tissue repair, directly within a wound.

The researchers said chronic wounds remain a significant clinical challenge, partly because it is difficult to deliver sustained, localised immune signals that coordinate tissue repair. They said conventional approaches to delivering cytokines are often limited by rapid degradation and poor retention at the wound site.

The team developed what it calls a cytokine factory patch to address that problem by continuously producing and delivering therapeutic cytokines within the wound area.

They said the patch is a cell-based delivery platform that uses encapsulated, engineered cells as on-site “factories” to secrete cytokines over extended periods of time. By localising cytokine production at the wound site, the system is designed to maintain therapeutic levels of the molecules where they are needed most.

The device was developed in the laboratory of Omid Veiseh and uses ARPE-19 cells engineered to secrete specific cytokines, including IL-10, IL-12 and Transforming Growth Factor-beta, or TGF-β.

The cells sit inside a biocompatible matrix that allows nutrients and therapeutic proteins to pass through while shielding the cells from the host immune system.

Findings from preclinical studies, published in Nature Biomedical Engineering, showed the patch supported accelerated wound healing in rodent and pig wound models.

Veiseh said the animal trials showed the potential of sustained, localised immunomodulation to enhance natural repair processes.

“The findings show how continuous, localized cytokine delivery can support key biological pathways involved in tissue repair,” he said.

“By maintaining a consistent presence of these signaling molecules at the wound site, we can more effectively engage the body’s natural healing response.”

At the cellular level, the engineered cells showed activation of key wound-healing pathways, validated through RNA sequencing.

Veiseh, faculty director of the Rice Biotech Launch Pad, said: “Analysis revealed coordinated upregulation of genes associated with tissue regeneration and immune modulation, providing a mechanistic basis for the functional improvements observed.

“The platform is designed to be modular, allowing the engineered cells to be adapted to produce different combinations of cytokines, growth factors or other therapeutic proteins depending on the clinical application.”

He said the system also includes an optimised hydrogel matrix that supports integration with the wound environment and may be adapted to work alongside bioelectronic components.

Study co-author Christian Schreib said: “The ability to tune both the type and timing of cytokine delivery opens the door to more precise control over the healing process.”

He added: “Future work will focus on expanding the flexibility of the platform, including approaches such as optogenetic control to regulate cytokine secretion in real time.”

The researchers said the cytokine factory approach could in future be expanded beyond wound healing to diseases that need treatment delivered to a specific site on the body.

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