Graphene Oxide/Silver/l-Arginine Nanocomposite for Healing of Drug-Resistant Bacteria-Infected Wounds

Infected wound healing is a multifaceted biological process, particularly in the context of the emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria that compromise the efficacy of conventional treatments, thereby rendering the management of infected wounds exceedingly challenging. Developing highly effective antibacterial materials to fight resistant bacteria and promote wound healing remains a major challenge. In this study, a graphene oxide (GO)-based synergistic multifunctional nanomaterial, GO-Ag-l-Arg, is developed to promote wound healing by effectively combating antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections and promoting angiogenesis. The excellent antibacterial activity of GO-Ag-l-Arg is attributed to the synergistic effect of highly dispersed silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) and l-Arginine (l-Arg). GO-Ag-l-Arg can effectively avoid the aggregation of Ag NPs and fully exert the antibacterial ability of Ag NPs in GO-Ag-l-Arg. By precisely regulating the pH, l-Arg is further loaded onto the GO-Ag nanosheets through an esterification reaction between the hydroxyl on the surface of GO and l-Arg. The highly positively charged guanidyl in l-Arg can interact with negatively charged bacteria, improving the targeting ability between the nanocomposite and bacteria and further enhancing the antibacterial effect of GO-Ag-l-Arg. At the same time, GO-Ag-l-Arg can produce nitric oxide (NO) under the action of cells, thus effectively promoting angiogenesis. The in vivo experiments show GO-Ag-l-Arg exhibits an outstanding ability to accelerate the healing of bacterial-infected wounds by inhibiting bacterial growth and stimulating angiogenesis at the wound site, offering a promising strategy for the treatment of wounds infected by drug-resistant bacteria.