A Smart Hydrogel with Anti‐Biofilm and Anti‐Virulence Activities to Treat Pseudomonas aeruginosa Infections

Abstract

Biofilm is the main culprit of refractory infections and seriously threaten to the human health. Here, a smart hydrogel consisted of norspermidine, aminoglycosides, and oxidized polysaccharide is prepared via the formation of acid-labile imine linkage to treat Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm infections in several animal models. The increased acidity caused by bacterial infection triggers the release of norspermidine and aminoglycosides covalently bound with the polymer scaffold. The released norspermidine inhibits biofilm formation and virulence production by regulating the quorum sensing of P. aeruginosa, while the aminoglycoside antibiotics effectively kill the released bacteria. The gel thoroughly inhibits biofilm formation on various medical devices and decreases bacteria pathogenicity. It efficiently inhibits implantation-associated biofilm infections and chronic wound infections, and shows great promise to prevent and treat biofilm-induced refractory infection in clinics.

Hydrogel-based dressings designed to facilitate wound healing

“…To address this issue, researchers have successfully developed various novel and effective antimicrobial hydrogels. [281][282][283] Cai et al developed a eucalyptus essential oil nanoemulsion hydrogel specifically for this purpose. In vitro experiments demonstrated that the hydrogel displayed strong antimicrobial activity and inhibited biofilm formation.…”

Disruption of Communication: Recent Advances in Antibiofilm Materials with Anti-Quorum Sensing Properties

“…These NA gels can be employed as injectable nanohydrogels to expedite wound healing (Figure 13b). 221 In addition to the conventional use of hydrogels loaded with antibiotics and QSIs to facilitate wound healing, recent years have witnessed a growing interest in synergistic therapeutic approaches that combine PDT with other bactericidal strategies for addressing bacterial infections. Photosensitizers, when exposed to light, generate ROS capable of effectively eradicating bacteria.…”

An injectable all-small-molecule dynamic metallogel for suppressing sepsis

“…20,21 Rational design and facile fabrication strategies that enable control over constructing highly ordered network architectures across multiple length scales could then be employed to integrate those building blocks into suitable forms for energy and biomedical purposes. 22–27 Inspired by this, we have proposed a facile strategy to fabricate a new class of all-small-molecule smart and antibacterial metallogels via the direct gelation of well-established small molecular synthons including aminoglycosides (AGs, a typical class of naturally occurring broad-spectrum antibiotics), 4,28–34 2,2′-bipyridine-4,4′-dicarboxaldehyde (BIPY), and metal ions.…”