The balance of prooxidant-antioxidant reactions plays a crucial role in the regulation of skin physiological processes, especially during wound-healing. In standard conditions acute wounds heal in few weeks. However, an uncontroled oxidative stress may hinder the normal wound-healing process by perpetuating tissue damage. Curcumin is a natural active ingredient known by its capacity to efficiently act at the wound site by controlling the toxicity of radicals and through the activation of cytoprotective signaling pathways in dermal cells, thus contributing to the regeneration of the skin barrier function [1]. However, the efficient topical application of active curcumin at cutaneous tissues is hindered by its low solubility in aqueous systems and the need to avoid its degradation (especially by heat and light) during its formulation. In this work, Nanostructured Lipid Carriers (NLCs) [2] were developed as an encapsulating drug system aimed to prevent the drawbacks of curcumin stability and to favor its delivery to the skin. This would allow its topical application at the wound site by being incorporated into a dynamic hydrogel matrix. A stable NLCs formulation composed of negatively charged nanoparticles of an average size of about 300 nm was obtained. The curcumin encapsulation efficiency was more than 80% and the preservation of the antioxidant properties during the preparation process was demonstrated. Furthermore, curcumin release was studied in different biological media and reached 75 % in 72 hours. The viability of dermal cells involved in the wound-healing process was assessed after 24 hours of contact. Developped NLCs were found to be non toxic to fibroblasts and keratinocytes at concentrations below 0.54 mg/mL (containing 10 µM of curcumin) and 1.1 mg/mL (containing 20 µM), respectively. Finally, NLCs were successfully introduced into a carbopol hydrogel. Rheological analysis revealed that the mechanical properties of the gel were not disturbed. Overall, our results demonstrated the feasibility of combining a natural compound-loaded NLCs and a hydrogel support into a multiscale platform in order to achieve the controlled release of the natural compound. The developed system is highly compatible and promising for a topical application. Most of all, it preserves the antioxidant properties of curcumin and controls its release towards dermal cells. Such behavior has been demonstrated to be a key feature in order to achieve pro wound-healing effects [3]. Currently, the ability to promote cell migration and proliferation in in-vitro wound-healing tests is under assessment. References: [1] V.P. Menon and A.R. Sudheer, Adv. Exp. Med. Biol. (2007) 595 : 105-125 [2] R. H. Müller et al., Adv. Drug Deliv. Rev. (2002) 54 : S131-S155 [3] D. Demirovic et al., Biogerontology (2011) 12 : 437-444