Wound repair and
tissue regeneration are complex processes that involve many physiological
signals. Thus, employing novel wound dressings with potent biological
activity and physiological signal response ability to accelerate wound
healing is a possible solution. Herein, inspired by mussel chemistry,
we developed a polydopamine (PDA)-reduced graphene oxide (pGO)-incorporated
chitosan (CS) and silk fibroin (SF) (pGO-CS/SF) scaffold with good
mechanical, electroactive, and antioxidative properties as an efficient
wound dressing. First, pGO with good dispersibility and cell affinity
was obtained upon reduction by PDA under alkali conditions. Second,
pGO was dispersed into a CS/SF mixture, and then CS and SF chains
were dual-cross-linked by poly(ethylene glycol) diglycidyl ether and
glutaraldehyde to obtain a pGO-incorporated gel. Finally, the gel
underwent a freeze-dry process to obtain the pGO-CS/SF scaffold. Owing
to PDA reduction and functionalization, pGO in the scaffold plays
important roles for the performances of the scaffolds. First, the
pGO acts as nanoreinforcement to enhance the mechanical properties
of the scaffold by combining the dual-cross-linked CS/SF network.
Second, the uniformly distributed pGO in the scaffolds comprises a
well-connected electric pathway, which can provide a channel for the
transmission of electrical signals in the scaffold. Moreover, pGO
in the scaffolds serves as an antioxidant agent to scavenge reactive
oxygen species (ROS) and therefore terminates excessive ROS oxidation.
In vitro studies show that electroactive pGO-CS/SF scaffolds can respond
to electrical signals and promote cytological behavior. In addition,
the pGO-CS/SF scaffolds can reduce cellular oxidation by removing
excessive ROS. The in vivo full-thickness skin defect model demonstrates
that the electroactive and antioxidative pGO-CS/SF scaffold can efficiently
enhance wound healing. In summary, the pGO-CS/SF scaffold is a promising
wound dressing because of its ability to promote physiological electrical
signal transmission for cell growth and reduce ROS oxidation, resulting
in an improved wound regeneration effect.