<i>In Situ</i> Formation of Bioadhesive and Antibacterial Hydrogels for Oral Mucosal Wound Healing

Abstract

As the oral cavity represents a moist and highly dynamic environment abundant in microbial components, oral mucosal diseases usually impose stringent requirements for the development of novel oral adhesive materials. While different kinds of biomaterial hydrogels have been extensively documented, they face considerable challenges when utilized in oral environments, including inadequate adhesive strength and stability, slow adhesion kinetics, and insufficient antibacterial and antimicrobial properties. Herein, a series of bioglues were facilely fabricated via an in situ integration of biopolymers with UV-responsive group o -nitrobenzyl alcohol and antimicrobial peptides. Upon exposure to UV light, the bioadhesive hydrogels could in situ form within ∼7 s, achieving excellent adhesion to biological tissues via imine cross-linking reactions. The hydrogels also exhibited favorable biocompatibility, appropriate biodegradability, remarkable hemostatic performance, and outstanding antibacterial activity. Moreover, these hydrogels have demonstrated high efficacy in promoting oral mucosal wound healing with minimal intervention over 6 days while maintaining excellent bioadhesion to mucosal tissue even after 2 days postapplication. We believed that this work will open new avenues toward the development of robust bioadhesive hydrogels for complex microenvironments in vivo, thus presenting an alternative approach for oral mucosal diseases.