Negatively Charged Carbon Dot-Linked Glycyrrhizic Acid Hydrogel Promoted Hemostasis, Immunoregulation and...

Chronic wound management requires advanced dressings with sufficient adhesive properties and mechanical stress. Glycyrrhizic acid (GA)-derived hydrogels hold remarkable potential as biomaterials for diverse wound healing, however, their poor mechanical performance, limited stability, and inevitable cytotoxicity at high gelling concentrations severely restrict in vivo applications. Here, an innovative charred Trachycarpus-derived carbon dots (CT-CDs)-linked GA hybrid hydrogel (CT@GA-gel) was fabricated and imparted in injectable and self-healing properties for comprehensive therapy of diabetic wounds. Specially, the addition of CT-CDs with negative charge enabled the GA crosslinking to form hydrogels at very low concentrations (0.5% GA). Meanwhile, CT-CDs could significantly improve the mechanical properties and confer tissue adhesion of GA hydrogel for rapid hemostasis. Benefiting from the ROS scavenging activity of CT-CDs, the CT@GA-gel achieved immune microenvironment regulation, re-epithelialization and hair follicle hyperplasia, thereby facilitating chronic wound closure. Using transcriptomics analysis, we confirmed that the CT@GA-gel efficiently increased the gene expression associated with hemostasis, cell adhesion and extracellular matrix deposition, indicating the enhanced proliferation and remodeling during wound repair process. In the field of regenerative medicine, this work brings hope for the treatment of chronic tissue injury.