Polyphosphate-crosslinked hydrogels: structural design and bioactivity for tissue engineering scaffolds

Area of Science:

• Biomaterials Science
• Regenerative Medicine
• Wound Healing

Background:

• Chronic wounds exhibit complex pathophysiology with persistent bacterial colonization and impaired regeneration.
• Multifunctional biomaterials are crucial for integrated therapeutic interventions in chronic wound management.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a polyphosphate-crosslinked hydrogel system for infected chronic wound treatment.
• To co-load ampicillin and transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) for combined antibacterial and regenerative effects.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of a hydrogel via zinc ion-mediated crosslinking of sodium polyphosphate and sodium alginate.
• Co-loading ampicillin and TGF-β1 into the hydrogel system.
• In vitro evaluation of hydrogel properties, including loading efficiency, swelling, mechanical characteristics, antibacterial activity, fibroblast proliferation, and anti-senescence effects.

Main Results:

• High loading efficiencies achieved for both ampicillin (85.2 ± 2.5%) and TGF-β1 (78.6 ± 1.2%).
• Demonstrated potent bactericidal activity against Escherichia coli (bacterial load reduction >4 log10 CFU mL-1 within 24 hours).
• Enhanced human dermal fibroblast proliferation (222.5% at 96 hours) and significant anti-senescence efficacy (SA-β-gal-positive cells reduced to 24.2%).

Conclusions:

• The developed multifunctional hydrogel platform shows promising potential for advanced wound management.
• The synergistic action of ampicillin and TGF-β1 effectively addresses bacterial infection and promotes tissue regeneration.
• Potential applications include wound dressings, burn treatment, and tissue engineering scaffolds.