Prussian Blue Nanozyme-Functionalized Hydrogel with Self-Enhanced Redox Regulation for Accelerated Wound Healing

Given that reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation and inflammatory microenvironments are key issues hindering wound repair, nanozyme-functionalized hydrogels have been widely used in different types of wound healing modes to regulate ROS. Since wound healing is a long-term process, the long-term effectiveness or even enhancement of enzyme-like activities of hydrogels is critical. Based on the electron transfer catalytic mechanism and enzyme-like activity enhancement effect of Prussian blue nanozymes (PBNZs), this study used classic hydrogel materials as carriers and PBNZs as functionalized nanozymes to construct a wound dressing with enhanced enzyme-like activity. In the system, the effect of self-enhanced enzyme activity as a wound dressing and the good promotion effect on the healing of skin defect models were successfully verified. Moreover, PBNZs can be stably fixed in the hydrogel system and will not be released during the application process, which is a necessary condition for achieving enzyme-like activity self-enhancement. It is precisely due to the self-enhanced effect of its enzyme-like activity that PBNZs can express excellent ROS regulation ability in the effective contact area. This article explores the intrinsic properties of PBNZs-based hydrogels for wound healing, focusing on their catalytic mechanisms. The developed PBNZs-functionalized hydrogel shows significant potential as an advanced dressing to accelerate wound healing. Notably, the self-enhanced wound dressing with enzyme-like activity proposed in this study offers valuable insights for material design in this field.