Background
Healing of MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) infected deep burn wounds (MIDBW) in diabetic patients remains an obstacle but is a cutting-edge research problem in clinical science. Surgical debridement and continuous antibiotic use remain the primary clinical treatment for MIDBW. However, suboptimal pharmacokinetics and high doses of antibiotics often cause serious side effects such as fatal complications of drug-resistant bacterial infections. MRSA, which causes wound infection, is currently a bacterium of concern in diabetic wound healing. In more severe cases, it can even lead to amputation of the patient's limb. The development of bioactive nanomaterials that can promote infected wound healing is significant.
Results
The present work proposed a strategy of using EGCG (Epigallocatechin gallate) modified black phosphorus quantum dots (BPQDs) as therapeutic nanoplatforms for MIDBW to achieve the synergistic functions of NIR (near-infrared)-response, ROS-generation, sterilization, and promoting wound healing. The electron spin resonance results revealed that EGCG-BPQDs@H had a more vital photocatalytic ability to produce singlet oxygen than BPQDs@H. The inhibition results indicated an effective bactericidal rate of 88.6% against MRSA. Molecular biology analysis demonstrated that EGCG-BPQDs significantly upregulated CD31 nearly fourfold and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) nearly twofold, which were beneficial for promoting the proliferation of vascular endothelial cells and skin epidermal cells. Under NIR irradiation, EGCG-BPQDs hydrogel (EGCG-BPQDs@H) treated MIDBW area could rapidly raise temperature up to 55 °C for sterilization. The MIBDW closure rate of rats after 21 days of treatment was 92.4%, much better than that of 61.1% of the control group. The engineered EGCG-BPQDs@H were found to promote MIDBW healing by triggering the PI3K/AKT and ERK1/2 signaling pathways, which could enhance cell proliferation and differentiation. In addition, intravenous circulation experiment showed good biocompatibility of EGCG-BPQDs@H. No significant damage to major organs was observed in rats.
Conclusions
The obtained results demonstrated that EGCG-BPQDs@H achieved the synergistic functions of photocatalytic property, photothermal effects and promoted wound healing, and are promising multifunctional nanoplatforms for MIDBW healing in diabetics.
Graphical Abstract
Bacterial
infection has been a considerable obstacle for diabetic
wound healing. A multifunctional nanoplatform used as nanozyme for
bacterial infected diabetic wound is extremely attractive. Therefore,
gold nanoclusters modified zirconium-based porphyrin metal–organic
frameworks (Au NCs@PCN) were constructed by an in situ growth method. Through SEM, TEM, and EDS mapping, the surface of
ellipsoid-shaped particles around 190 nm was observed to be evenly
interspersed with 5–8 nm gold nanoclusters. Notably, Au NCs@PCN
exhibits excellent performance in exciting ROS generation and photothermal
effects. Under near-infrared (NIR) laser irradiation, Au NCs@PCN can
be heated to 56.2 °C and produce ROS, showing an effective killing
effect on bacteria. Antibacterial studies showed that Au NCs@PCN inhibited
MRSA and Ampr
E. coli by destroying membrane
structure and inducing protein leakage up to 95.3% and 90.6%, respectively.
Animal experiments showed that Au NCs@PCN treated diabetic rats had
reduced wound coverage to 2.7% within 21 days. The immunoblot analysis
showed that proangiogenic and proepithelial cell proliferation factors
were expressed significantly up-regulated. These results prove that
Au NCs@PCN with photocatalytic and nanozyme activity has a broad application
prospect for promoting diabetic infected wound healing.
Core–shell structured CaCO3 microspheres (MSs) were prepared by a facile, one-pot method at room temperature. The adsorbent dosage and adsorption time of the obtained CaCO3 MSs were investigated. The results suggest that these CaCO3 MSs can rapidly and efficiently remove 99–100% of anionic dyes within the first 2 min. The obtained CaCO3 MSs have a high Brunauer–Emmett–Teller surface area (211.77 m2 g−1). In addition, the maximum adsorption capacity of the obtained CaCO3 MSs towards Congo red was 99.6 mg g−1. We also found that the core–shell structured CaCO3 MSs have a high recycling capability for removing dyes from water. Our results demonstrate that the prepared core–shell structured CaCO3 MSs can be used as an ideal, rapid, efficient and recyclable adsorbent to remove dyes from aqueous solution.
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