In situ forming ROS-scavenging hybrid hydrogel loaded with polydopamine-modified fullerene nanocomposites for promoting skin wound healing

BACKGROUND: Excessive oxidative stress at the wound sites always leads to a prolonged healing and even causes chronic inflammatory wounds. Therefore, antioxidative dressings with multiple features are desired to improve wound healing performance. Herein, we fabricated a ROS-scavenging hybrid hydrogel by incorporating mussel-inspired fullerene nanocomposites (C60@PDA) into gelatin methacryloyl (GelMA) hydrogel. RESULTS: The developed C60@PDA/GelMA hydrogel showed a sustainable free radical scavenging ability, and eliminated ROS to protect cells against external oxidative stress damage. Besides, the hydrogel presented favorable cytocompatibility, hemocompatibility, and antibacterial ability in vitro. Furthermore, in a mouse full-thickness wound defect model, the in situ forming hybrid hydrogel accelerated wound closure by 38.5% and 42.9% on day 3 and day 7 over the control. Histological results demonstrated that hybrid hydrogels effectively enhanced wound healing on re-epithelialization, collagen deposition and angiogenesis. CONCLUSION: Collectively, the C60@PDA/GelMA hydrogel could be a promising dressing for promoting cutaneous wound repair. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12951-023-01879-2.