Research on the Combined Antibacterial and Wound-Healing Effects of Oxygen-Carrying Hydrogel Photodynamic and Photothermal Therapy-Targeting Biofilms

Biofilms present a significant obstacle in the treatment of bacterial infections, because of their ability to evade the host immune response and to resist conventional antibacterial drugs. This study introduces an innovative approach to overcoming these challenges by targeting the biofilm microenvironment using a multifunctional therapeutic platform. The platform leverages perfluorohexane (PFH) as an oxygen carrier to alleviate the multifunctional therapeutic platform. It combines the photosensitizer indium Chlorin e6 (Ce6) and the photothermal agent molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂) co-encapsulated within a liposome nanoparticle structure, further stabilized by Zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8). This configuration, termed MoS₂-Ce6-PFH@ZIF-8 (MCP@ZIF-8) improves the stability, functionality, and therapeutic potential of the nanoparticles. Additionally, the nanoparticles are embedded into a hydrogel matrix (MCP@ZCP formed by cross-linking carboxymethyl chitosan (CMCS) with pluronic F-127 (PF-127) for localized delivery. MCP@ZIF-8 exhibited a high photothermal therapy conversion efficiency of approximately 52.7%, thereby enabling effective heat generation under near-infrared (NIR) light. MCP@ZIF-8 produced higher reactive oxygen species levels than Ce6 alone under NIR irradiation at 660 nm. This dual photothermal and photodynamic mechanism achieves an antibacterial efficacy of up to 99%, effectively disrupting biofilms. Animal studies demonstrated that MCP@ZCP promotes superior wound healing, compared with conventional treatments. Transcriptome analysis demonstrated that MCP@ZCP disrupts bacterial metabolic pathways including amino acid synthesis, carbon metabolism, nitrogen metabolism, and other pathways, thereby inhibiting bacterial growth and proliferation. Comprehensive biosafety assessments have confirmed that MCP@ZCP is biocompatible and nontoxic, indicating its suitability for clinical applications. Thus, oxygen-carrying hydrogels can be used as an approach for treating bacterial infections.