Issue 47, 2023

Antibacterial, antioxidant and injectable hydrogels constructed using CuS and curcumin co-loaded micelles for NIR-enhanced infected wound healing

Abstract

Constructing antibacterial and antioxidant hydrogels is critical for treating infected full-thickness skin wounds. Herein, we report a co-encapsulation strategy to load CuS nanoparticles and hydrophobic antioxidant curcumin (cur) in aldehyde-terminated F127 micelles, which are then cross-linked with carboxymethyl chitosan through a Schiff base reaction to form a functional composite hydrogel (CF–CuS–cur). Apart from its suitable swelling and degradation behavior, good biocompatibility, and injectability for treating irregular wounds, the CF–CuS–cur hydrogel displayed excellent photothermal antibacterial ability under 1064 nm NIR laser irradiation, and antioxidant activity to protect cells from excessive oxidative stress. Using a full-thickness infected wound model, we demonstrated that the CF–CuS–cur hydrogel accelerated the wound healing process by effective sterilization and decreased inflammation, under synergistic action from CuS, curcumin and NIR irradiation. Histological and immunohistochemistry analysis further revealed the promoted skin attachments and regeneration, collagen deposition, neovascularization, and early transition to anti-inflammatory M2 macrophages, when the wounds were treated with the CF–CuS–cur hydrogel. This work demonstrates a facile strategy to construct functional hydrogels with NIR-enhanced antibacterial and antioxidant properties, which can be potentially applied as wound dressings for treating chronic wounds.

Graphical abstract: Antibacterial, antioxidant and injectable hydrogels constructed using CuS and curcumin co-loaded micelles for NIR-enhanced infected wound healing

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
29 sep 2023
Accepted
12 nov 2023
First published
13 nov 2023

J. Mater. Chem. B, 2023,11, 11319-11334

Antibacterial, antioxidant and injectable hydrogels constructed using CuS and curcumin co-loaded micelles for NIR-enhanced infected wound healing

P. Jia, Y. Zou and J. Jiang, J. Mater. Chem. B, 2023, 11, 11319 DOI: 10.1039/D3TB02278A

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