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Abstract
Designing wound dressing materials with outstanding therapeutic effects, self-healing,
adhesiveness and suitable mechanical property has great practical significance in
healthcare, especially for joints skin wound healing. Here, we designed a kind of
self-healing injectable micelle/hydrogel composites with multi-functions as wound
dressing for joint skin damage. By combining the dynamic Schiff base and copolymer
micelle cross-linking in one system, a series of hydrogels were prepared by mixing
quaternized chitosan (QCS) and benzaldehyde-terminated Pluronic®F127 (PF127-CHO) under
physiological conditions. The inherent antibacterial property, pH-dependent biodegradation
and release behavior were investigated to confirm multi-functions of wound dressing.
The hydrogel dressings showed suitable stretchable and compressive property, comparable
modulus with human skin, good adhesiveness and fast self-healing ability to bear deformation.
The hydrogels exhibited efficient hemostatic performance and biocompatibility. Moreover,
the curcumin loaded hydrogel showed good antioxidant ability and pH responsive release
profiles. In vivo experiments indicated that curcumin loaded hydrogels significantly
accelerated wound healing rate with higher granulation tissue thickness and collagen
disposition and upregulated vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in a full-thickness
skin defect model. Taken together, the antibacterial adhesive hydrogels with self-healing
and good mechanical property offer significant promise as dressing materials for joints
skin wound healing.