Engineering a naturally-derived wound dressing based on bio-ionic liquid conjugation

Immediate hemostatic control and anti-infection are critical for wounds and have received much attention in the pharmacological fields. Whereas the development of effective wound dressings has faced the challenge with the desired combination of properties, including antimicrobial agent selection, adhesion to tissue, hemostatic performance, biocompatibility, ease of use, etc. It is known that hyaluronic acid (HA) derivatives are beneficial to promoting coagulation and wound healing, and have many functional groups in the structure, which are easy to be chemically modified. ε-Poly-(L-lysine) (ε-PL) has long-acting and broad-spectrum antibacterial properties and can bind to the aldehyde group by Schiff base reaction. Choline-based bio-ionic liquids (Bio-ILs) are structural precursors of phospholipid bilayers in cell membranes, and the adhesive strength of the polymers could be improved by conjugated with them. In addition, the humid environment also facilitates wound healing. Herein, we developed a novel wound dressing, which was a multifunctional hydrogel interwoven with two networks, one network was constructed from conjugation of Bio-ILs with methacrylated hyaluronic acid (MeHA) and self-coupling of MeHA, and the other network was formed by oxidized hyaluronic acid (OHA) and ε-PL via Schiff base reaction. In vitro studies indicated that hydrogels exhibited a three-dimensional porous structure with good swelling, antibacterial and biocompatibility properties. In addition, the rat tail amputation and wound healing experiments expressed that hydrogels had the ability of rapid hemostasis and promoting wound healing. In conclusion, Bio-IL/MeHA/OHA/ε-PL hydrogel is a naturally-derived, biocompatible and promising wound dressing.