The wound healing effect and DNA damage repair of exopolysaccharide extracted from Weissella cibaria MED17

Lactic acid bacteria can synthesize exopolysaccharides (EPSs), and some of these EPSs have pharmaceutical or medicinal properties. However, the wound healing capacities of EPSs have rarely been reported. In this study, EPS extracted from Weissella cibaria MED17 was used to investigate wound healing capacity. MED17 EPS was previously characterized and antioxidant capacity was also demonstrated. The application dose of the compound was determined by the MTT assay. The comet assay was applied to reveal the free radical scavenging activity and protection capacity of MED 17 against DNA damage by inducing oxidative stress and DNA damage with Mitomycin-C (MMC) in the cells. The comet assay showed that 15 mg/ml MED 17 EPS could ameliorate DNA damage by 50%. Moreover, the scratch test investigated the wound-healing effect of MED 17 EPS on HT-29 colon cells. MED 17 EPS could stimulate the migration of HT-29 and ameliorate MMC-induced DNA damage. However, further studies need to be conducted to clarify the mechanisms of the wound-healing process of MED 17.