New York, June 12: Your painful, hard-to-treat sores may soon be a thing of the past as scientists have developed a regenerative bandage that may quickly heal them without using drugs, an advance which may help make healing of wounds in diabetics faster.

The study, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, showed that the bandage healed diabetic wounds 33 per cent faster than one of the most popular bandages currently on the market. 

"The novelty is that we identified a segment of a protein in skin that is important to wound healing, made the segment and incorporated it into an antioxidant molecule that self-aggregates at body temperature to create a scaffold that facilitates the body's ability to regenerate tissue at the wound site," said lead author Guillermo Ameer from the Northwestern University in Illinois, US. 

The logic behind the regenerative bandage is laminin -- a protein found in most of the body's tissues including the skin. 

Laminin sends signals to cells, encouraging them to differentiate, migrate and adhere to one another. The team identified a segment of laminin -- 12 amino acids in length -- called A5G81 that is critical for the wound-healing process. 

They incorporated A5G81 into an antioxidant hydrogel bandage that it previously developed in the laboratory. The antioxidant nature also helps counters inflammation.

Hydrogel liquid can form the exact shape of the wound which makes this bandage better than others.

"Wounds have irregular shapes and depths. Our liquid can fill any shape and then stay in place. Other bandages are mostly based on collagen films or sponges that can move around and shift away from the wound site," Ameer said. 

The team also used animal models to test the effectiveness and found no adverse effects of the bandage on the animals.

Ameer also added that their bandage can be rinsed off with cool saline, so the regenerating tissue remains undisturbed. 

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Chandigarh, Apr 13 (PTI): A day after a viral video showed a girl emerging out of a suitcase being carted around on a hostel campus, the private university concerned in Haryana has said it was just a "prank" being played "within the girls' hostel" by some students.

The Sonipat-based university, however, said they have taken the matter seriously and showcaused the students involved, asking them to appear before the disciplinary committee.

Safety and security of students are paramount, a university spokesperson said on Sunday, asserting "we have taken effective and immediate action in this matter".

A video clip from the O P Jindal Global University hostel on Friday showed two female security personnel opening the suitcase and the girl coming out if it. The spooky video was shared widely on social media.

With the clip generating all sorts of social media chatter and theories, the university spokesperson issued a statement on Sunday, saying it just showed a group of girls playing a prank on their friend within their hostel.

They were carting her around in a suitcase and took her outside to the grounds and upstairs, he said. They moved to a public area inside the girls hostel common corridor which is under the CCTV coverage which is when the security guards noticed suspicious activity around the suitcase, he said.

The university has taken effective and immediate action in the incident.

"This incident involved a group of students playing a prank within the girls' hostel, which unfortunately escalated to a public area where security intervened," the spokesperson said.

"All students involved have been issued showcause notices and will face the disciplinary committee. As India's leading institution, O P Jindal Global University takes student security very seriously," the spokesperson said.