Antibacterial self-fused supramolecular polymer hydrogel for infected wound healing

Abstract

Wound treatment is a huge challenge for healthcare systems, especially when the wound suffered infection. Therefore, it is essential to develop materials with antibacterial properties for wound repair. Herein, we integrated antimicrobial peptides with self-healing hydrogel for infectious wound treatment. The synthetic hydrogel was made by polymerizing N-acryloyl glycinamide (NAGA) monomers and doped with antimicrobial peptide Polymyxin E. Additionally, because of the bisamide structure of the side chains of the NAGA monomers, the hydrogen bond was formed and caused the supramolecular structure. The resulted hydrogel showed excellent self-healing property, biocompatibility, and antimicrobial property, which allowed it to be used as hydrogel dressing. In vivo experiment demonstrated that the hydrogel had the significant capability in promoting infectious wound healing. Therefore, this type of antibacterial self-healing supramolecular hydrogel is expected to serve as infectious wound dressing for medical healthcare applications.