Mild Heat-Assisted Polydopamine/Alginate Hydrogel Containing Low-Dose Nanoselenium for Facilitating Infected Wound Healing

Abstract

In clinical practice, it has become urgent to develop multifunctional wound dressings that can combat infection and prompt wound healing simultaneously. In this study, we proposed a polydopamine/alginate/nanoselenium composite hydrogel (Alg-PDA-Se) for the treatment of infected wounds. In particular, polydopamine endows the composite hydrogel with controllable near-infrared photothermal properties, while low-dosage selenium nanoparticles (Se NPs) offer excellent anti-oxidation, anti-inflammatory, pro-proliferative, pro-migration, and pro-angiogenic performances, which are verified by multiple cells, including macrophages, fibroblasts, and endothelial cells. More interestingly, the combination of mild temperature with low-dosage Se NPs produces a synergistic effect on combating both Staphylococcus aureus ( S. aureus ) and Escherichia coli ( E. coli ) and promoting the healing of bacteria-infected wounds in vivo. We anticipate that the designed composite hydrogel might be a potential candidate for anti-infection bioactive dressing.