Siti Balqis Adnan, Manira Maarof, Mh Busra Fauzi, Nur Izzah Md Fadilah
Wound healing is a complex and dynamic process that requires the coordination of cellular, molecular, and physiological events to restore tissue integrity. Despite notable advances in treatment strategies, optimizing healing outcomes, particularly in chronic wounds, remains a major challenge. Emerging evidence highlights the therapeutic promise of peptides, especially tripeptides, in accelerating tissue repair through diverse mechanisms. These short peptides regulate key processes such as cell migration, proliferation, and differentiation, while also modulating inflammation, promoting angiogenesis, and facilitating extracellular matrix (ECM) remodeling. This review, covering studies published between 2016 and 2025, explores the role of tripeptides in enhancing wound repair, emphasizing their biological functions, mechanisms of action, and therapeutic applications. Recent findings demonstrate that tripeptides can stimulate fibroblast migration, enhance collagen deposition, and support angiogenesis. In addition, they exhibit antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties, making them valuable candidates for both acute and chronic wound management. GHK-based formulations, including nanoparticle conjugates, hydrogels, and clinical derivatives such as TriHex and TriHex 2.0, enhance fibroblast migration, ECM remodeling, collagen and elastin synthesis, and wound closure while providing antimicrobial activity. KdPT mitigates hyperglycemia-induced oxidative stress and restores keratinocyte function, whereas KPV-loaded hydrogels reduce inflammation, promote tissue regeneration, and combat MRSA infections. Additionally, lipotripeptides (DICAMs) inhibit and disrupt bacterial biofilms, and GPE supports neuroprotection and regeneration through ERK and PI3K/Akt signaling activation. Beyond wound repair, this review also discusses comparative physicochemical properties and wound healing applications of tripeptides versus larger peptides, factors influencing their performance, strategies for combination with biomaterial scaffolds, and emerging applications in fields such as cancer and cosmetics. Collectively, tripeptides represent a promising class of multifunctional bioactive molecules in wound care, offering novel avenues for targeted tissue regeneration. Future research should focus on improving their stability, bioavailability, and delivery systems to fully harness their clinical potential in regenerative medicine.