Rationalizing hydrogel-integrated peroxidase-mimicking nanozymes for combating drug-resistant bacteria and...

Due to the easy preparation, high stability and environmental friendliness, nanozymes are frequently used as promising substitutes to natural enzymes. However, the efficacy of nanozymes in biomedicine aspects is often hampered by their potential biotoxicity and limited bioavailability, which prompted structure adaption or carrier design to maximize nanozymes performance. Despite considerable efforts on carriers to deliver nanozymes efficiently, the systematic studies on enzyme-like activities of nanozymes related to platforms of nanozyme@carrier are sparse. Here, five types of hydrogel carriers composed by sodium alginate (SA), chitosan, gelatin, gelatin methacryloyl (GelMA), and polyacrylamide (PAM) were formed by distinct mode of polymerization to optimize the suitable carrier for peroxidase (POD)-mimic nanozyme consisted of hemin and bovine serum albumin (BSA). Among these proposed carriers, SA hydrogel emerged as the most effective carrier due to its compatible crosslinking mechanism and desirable stability for nanozyme functioning. By incorporating the POD-mimic nanozyme into the SA hydrogel, the catalytic performance of the nanozyme was effectively preserved, leading to improved antibacterial effects and superior sensing ability towards the colorimetric measurement of H₂O₂. Based on the rationalization of hydrogel carriers, the proposed study not only helped to understand the structure-function relationship between nanozyme and carriers, but provided an integrated nanoplatform of POD-mimic nanozyme with environmental disinfection as well as biomedical applications.