Peptide-Functionalized Amino Acid-Derived Pseudoprotein-Based Hydrogel with Hemorrhage Control and Antibacterial Activity for Wound Healing

Abstract

Developing permanent antibacterial and rapid hemostatic wound dressings with excellent biocompatibility is urgently needed and has always gained great attention. Here, a series of amino acid-derived pseudoprotein consisting of poly(ester amide) (PEA)-based hydrogel dressings and three types of cationic short peptides (RGDK, RRRFK, and RRRFRGDK) are prepared. Compared with the antibacterial segments containing hydrogel scaffolds, the method of peptide modification of surface possesses the minimal usage of antibacterial moiety due to the effective contacting wound spots. Direct peptide RRRFRGDK (P3) conjugation to the hydrogel surface through an amidization reaction can enhance the antibacterial and hemostatic abilities with no or minimal outer appearance and inner morphology damage to the original hydrogels. The P3-functionalized hydrogel (Gel-g-P3) presents excellent water uptake capacity, robust mechanical strength, enzymatic biodegradation, good hemocompatibility, and cytocompatibility. Moreover, the Gel-g-P3 hydrogel has better adhesion capacities of blood cell and platelet and exhibits shorter hemostasis time in the mouse-liver injury model. Finally, the wound healing performance is evaluated in vivo using an infected wound model. The results show that the Gel-g-P3 hydrogel has accelerated the wound healing process, implying that the peptide-functionalized PEA-based hydrogels can be used as hemostasis agents and wound dressings for infected wounds.