A β‐Lactamase‐Imprinted Responsive Hydrogel for the Treatment of Antibiotic‐Resistant Bacteria

Antibiotics play important roles in infection treatment and prevention. However, the effectiveness of antibiotics is now threatened by the prevalence of drug-resistant bacteria. Furthermore, antibiotic abuse and residues in the environment cause serious health issues. In this study, a stimuli-responsive imprinted hydrogel was fabricated by using β-lactamase produced by bacteria for deactivating antibiotics as the template molecule. The imprinted hydrogel could initially trap β-lactamase excreted by drug-resistant bacteria, thus making bacteria sensitive to antibiotics. After the bactericidal treatment, the "imprinted sites" on the hydrogel could be reversibly abolished with a temperature stimulus, which resulted in the reactivation of β-lactamase to degrade antibiotic residues. We also present an example of the use of this antibacterial design to treat wound infection.