Mechanical Force Storage and Reprogramming Hydrogel for Scarless Repair of Sports Joint Wounds

The wounds at the joints are subject to repeated pulling. This not only causes repeated rupture and bleeding of new granulation tissue, but also causes excessive exogenous mechanical stimulation of cell populations, leading to excessive cell proliferation and vascular proliferation at the trauma site. Inspired by the energy conversion of tendons, the "energy transit station" hydrogel is designed. When applied to dynamic joint wounds, the rigid cross-linked network of hydrogels rapidly absorbs wound edge stress by elastic deformation and stores them as elastic potential energy in the topological network matrix, driving the hydrogels to exhibit programmable elastic recoil capabilities. Thus, the "energy transfer station" hydrogel not only shields stress concentration in sports injuries, but also reprograms energy forms to provide reasonable biomimetic contraction for wounds. In vivo research, compared with the control group (83.06%), this hydrogel can significantly accelerate the healing process of sports injuries (99.87%). The "energy transit station" property significantly downregulated the En1 lineage-positive fibroblast population (only 9.21% of the control group) and coordinated the activation of α-SMA-positive myofibroblasts (only 14.62% of the control group). This research provides an innovative strategy for high-quality healing of joint wounds through the conversion and re-transmission of energy.