Paintable graphene oxide-hybridized soy protein-based biogels for skin radioprotection

Abstract

Radiation-induced skin injury (RISI) represents a prevalent issue following radiotherapy. The main factors influencing RISI wound recovery include ROS and NLRP3 inflammasome activation as well as wound infection, amongst others. Herein, a biomaterial for the healing of radio-induced injury was designed using multiple strategies. A gallic acid (GA)-assisted isolation process was first applied to prepare gallic acid-grafted soy protein (SPI-GA) from spherical soy protein. The SPI-GA was then modified with simultaneously-grafted phenol and thiol cohorts (SH) (SPI-GA-SH). Due to the antibacterial properties of graphene oxide (GO), SPI-SH-GA@PGO biogels was finally self-assembled into an adhesive biogel in a binary solvent system (dopamine-glycerol/water). Characterization for adhesive and paintable SPI-based biogels indicated that the material was successfully synthesized. Cytological studies further highlighted the antibacterial properties of SPI-SH-GA@PGO, its non-toxicity to HaCaT cultures as well as its ability to promote vascularization and cell migrative while inhibiting apoptotic. Genomics assessment also demonstrated that the material could effectively improve the abnormal expression of skin cultures induced by radiation. Finally, a murine model suggested that SPI-SH-GA@PGO could reduce ROS and NLRP3 expression while promoting wound recovery. This work pioneered SPI-based biogel deployment as material for RISI recovery.