A photo-triggering double cross-linked adhesive, antibacterial, and biocompatible hydrogel for wound healing

Honghua Hu; Xinrang Zhai; Wenyue Li; Shunxian Ji; Wei Dong; Weiyu Chen; Wei Wei; Zhongfa Lu

doi:10.1016/j.isci.2022.104619

A photo-triggering double cross-linked adhesive, antibacterial, and biocompatible hydrogel for wound healing

iScience. 2022 Jun 16;25(7):104619. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2022.104619. eCollection 2022 Jul 15.

Authors

Honghua Hu¹, Xinrang Zhai^{1

2}, Wenyue Li^{3

4}, Shunxian Ji¹, Wei Dong², Weiyu Chen¹, Wei Wei^{1

3}, Zhongfa Lu⁵

Affiliations

¹ International Institutes of Medicine, the Fourth Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Yiwu, Zhejiang 322000, China.
² School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210094, China.
³ Key Laboratory of Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine of Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310000, China.
⁴ Zhejiang University-University of Edinburgh Institute, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310000, China.
⁵ Department of Dermatology, the Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310000, China.

Abstract

Full-thickness wounds, lacking the epidermis and entire dermis and extending into subcutaneous fat, represent a common treatment challenge. Due to the loss of adnexal structures as a source of keratinocytes, full-thickness wounds healing can only be achieved by re-epithelialization from the wound edge and contraction. Here, we developed a hydrogel composed of chitosan methacrylate (CSMA) and o-nitrosobenzaldehyde-modified gelatin (GelNB) for promoting full-thickness wound healing. The CSMA/GelNB (CM/GN) hydrogels exhibited superior mechanical and adhesive properties than that of pure CSMA hydrogel. In vivo experiments confirmed that CM/GN could promote wound healing by generating more hair follicles and mutual blood vessels, high fibroblasts density, and thicker granulation tissue thickness. In addition, reduced secretions of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and enhanced secretions of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) could be observed in regenerated tissues after CM/GN treatment. These results suggested that CM/GN hydrogels could be promising candidates to promote wound healing.

Keywords: Applied sciences; Bioengineering; Biomaterials; Biotechnology; Materials science.