Infectious
bacteria evolve fast into resistance to conventional
antimicrobial agents, whereas treatments for drug resistance bacteria
progress more slowly. Here, we report a universally applicable photoactivated
antimicrobial modality through light-responsive carbon dot-embedding
soft hyaluronic acid hydrogel (CDgel). Because of the innate nature
of the infectious bacteria that produce hyaluronidase, applied hyaluronic
acid-based CDgel breaks down via bacteria and releases carbon dots
(CDs) into the infectious sites. The released CDs possess photodynamic
capabilities under light irradiation, inducing 1O2 generation and growth inhibition of the infectious bacteria, S. aureus and E. coli (∼99% and ∼97%, respectively), in vitro. In particular,
these photodynamic effects of CDs from CDgel have been shown to accelerate
the healing of infected wounds in vivo, showing a higher wound regeneration
rate as compared to that of untreated wounds. Our work demonstrates
that the biocompatible and shape-controllable CDgel possesses therapeutic
potential as a treatment modality for the light-driven control of
drug-resistant bacterial infections.
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