Rational design of hemocompatible hydrogel microspheres towards pathogen-associated molecular patterns removal for Gram-positive bacteria-induced sepsis

Abstract

Gram-positive bacterial infection towards sepsis is often difficult to treat due to the various virulence factors such as pore-forming toxins and the corresponding complex pathogenic mechanism. While the currently reported nanoparticles for eliminating toxins are difficult to be used for hemoperfusion due to the nanoscale size, the complex preparation process and poor hemocompatibility. Herein, we design poly (sulfobetaine methacrylate-co-diallyldimethylammonium)/red blood cell membrane (PSDR) hydrogel microspheres via precipitated droplets in-situ cross-linking polymerization as hemoperfusion adsorbents to attract bacteria and adsorb the released toxins simultaneously, providing a deep treatment of sepsis caused by Gram-positive bacteria through blood purification. The PSDR microspheres show excellent and rapid adsorption of bacterial toxins in the simulated perfusion with a 75.6 % removal efficiency in 10 min. Besides, the PSDR microspheres can prevent the cells in septic blood from destroying and activating by bacterial toxins. The rational design of PSDR hydrogel microspheres is expected to provide new solutions for the deep treatment of bacteria-induced sepsis.