Bovine collagen oligopeptides accelerate wound healing by promoting fibroblast migration via PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway

Bovine collagen oligopeptides (BCOP) are small molecule oligopeptides isolated from bovine collagen, which have been proved to modulate the collagen metabolism. However, the effects of BCOP on wound healing is rarely known by public. This study aims to evaluate the beneficial effects of BCOP on wound healing by using an excisional wound model established in mice. Moreover, the role of the PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway on the migration of fibroblasts in vitro is further elucidated. It was observed that BCOP could significantly reduce the size of the wound area, increasing albumin and prealbumin levels in mice. BCOP could also inhibit the apoptosis, promoting fibroblast proliferation and migration. The mRNA expressions of Collagen I, which have the ability to transform growth factor-I3 1 (TGF-I31) and the hydroxyproline (Hyp) content, were markedly increased after BCOP treatment. The PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway was also found being activated by BCOP intervention. To summarize, BCOP could accelerate wound healing by promoting fibroblast proliferation, migration and collagen metabolism via PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway.