Food-derived tripeptide–copper self-healing hydrogel for infected wound healing

The field of infected wound management continues to face challenges, and traditional methods used to cope with wounds include debridement, gauze coverage, medication, and others. Currently, synthetic and natural biomaterials are readily available today, enabling the creation of new wound dressings that substantially enhance wound healing. Considerable attention is being paid to hydrogels based on natural materials, which have good biocompatibility and degradability properties, while exhibiting higher similarity to natural extracellular matrix as compared to synthetic materials. In this study, we extracted the active ingredients of oxidized konjac glucomannan (OKGM) and fresh egg white (EW) from 2 foods, konjac, and egg, respectively, and formed a self-repairing hydrogel based on the cross-linking of a Schiff base. Subsequently, a natural active peptide, glycyl-l-histidyl-l-lysine-Cu (GHK-Cu), was loaded, and an all-natural composite hydrogel dressing, EW/OKGM@GHK-Cu (GEK), was developed. The GEK hydrogel, exhibiting both antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties, plays a hemostatic role by adhering to tissues and promoting neovascularization and serves as an optimal dressing for skin regeneration. Taken together, GEK hydrogel dressings derived from natural food sources therefore constitute an efficient and cost-effective strategy for managing infected wound healing and have significant potential for clinical application and transformation.