Injectable multifunctional CMC/HA-DA hydrogel for repairing skin injury

Injectable Hydrogels with adhesive, antioxidant and hemostatic properties are highly desired for promoting skin injury repair. In this study, we prepared a multi-functional carboxymethyl chitosan/hyaluronic acid-dopamine (CMC/HA-DA) hydrogel, which can be crosslinked by horseradish peroxidase and hydrogen peroxide. The antioxidation, gelation time, degradability, rheology and antihemorrhagic properties of hydrogels can be finely tuned by varying composition ratio. The cytocompatibility test and hemolysis test confirmed that the designed hydrogel holds good biocompatibility. More importantly, the repair effect of the hydrogel on full-thickness skin injury model in mice was studied. The results of wound healing, collagen deposition, immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence showed that CMC/HA-DA hydrogel could significantly promote angiogenesis and cell proliferation at the injured site. Notably, the inflammatory response can also be regulated to promote the repair of full-thickness skin defect in mice. Results indicate that this injectable CMC/HA-DA hydrogel holds high application prospect for promising wound healing.