Mechanically active adhesive and immune regulative dressings for wound closure

Summary

Adhesive hydrogels have attracted wide attention as wound dressings. However, conventional wound dressings that passively promote healing usually show limited efficacy. Although various drugs or cells are introduced to drive the healing process, such strategies are limited by the complicated fabrication process. Here, a mechanically active adhesive and immune regulative dressing is developed, mainly consisting of temperature-sensitive hydrogel with semi-interpenetrating network structure. This hydrogel could strongly adhere to and actively contract the wound in a ready-to-use form, where the freeze-dried hydrogel and sterile saline are sealed in two separated packages. More interestingly, the interspersed poly(methacrylic acid) could further promote wound healing via increasing the formation of new blood vessels and modulating inflammatory responses. In vivo mouse and porcine wound models validate the accelerated wound healing enabled by active contraction and modulated inflammatory responses. This mechanobiological and immune regulative dressing may provide a new avenue for wound management.