Poly(thioctic acid)-based supramolecular hydrogels with UV-triggered on-demand H2S release for burn wound healing

Jueying Chen; Lipeng Qiao; Danyu Cheng; Yutong Yang; Meng Li; Xin Zhao; Baolin Guo

doi:10.1016/j.jconrel.2025.113983

Poly(thioctic acid)-based supramolecular hydrogels with UV-triggered on-demand H₂S release for burn wound healing

J Control Release. 2025 Jun 26:113983. doi: 10.1016/j.jconrel.2025.113983. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Jueying Chen¹, Lipeng Qiao², Danyu Cheng³, Yutong Yang², Meng Li², Xin Zhao⁴, Baolin Guo⁵

Affiliations

¹ Frontier Institute of Science and Technology, and State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials, and Interdisciplinary Research Center of Frontier science and technology, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049, China; Department of Dermatology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710004, China.
² Frontier Institute of Science and Technology, and State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials, and Interdisciplinary Research Center of Frontier science and technology, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049, China.
³ The Key Laboratory of Biomedical Information Engineering of Ministry of Education, Center for Mitochondrial Biology and Medicine, School of Life Science and Technology, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049, China.
⁴ Frontier Institute of Science and Technology, and State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials, and Interdisciplinary Research Center of Frontier science and technology, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049, China. Electronic address: zhaoxinbio@mail.xjtu.edu.cn.
⁵ Frontier Institute of Science and Technology, and State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials, and Interdisciplinary Research Center of Frontier science and technology, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049, China; Department of Dermatology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710004, China. Electronic address: baoling@mail.xjtu.edu.cn.

PMID: 40581218
DOI: 10.1016/j.jconrel.2025.113983

Abstract

Burn wound complicated by bacterial infection and exaggerated inflammatory response poses a significant threat to patients' lives. Hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) plays a critical role in wound healing, but its application is limited by low carrier loading efficiency and uncontrolled release behavior. Herein, an adhesive, self-healing, and removable supramolecular hydrogel integrating UV-triggered in situ production and on-demand release of H₂S and targeted recognition and killing of bacteria is developed based on poly(thioctic acid) (polyTA), acrylated adenine (AA) and phenylboronic acid-functionalized silver nanoparticles (AgNPs-PBA) to treat burn wound. The hydrogel exhibits high stability, rapid self-healing behavior, highly effective antibacterial activity through a targeted recognition strategy utilizing the boric acid group, adhesive property, UV-shielding property, removability, and on-demand delivery of H₂S, which effectively modulates pro-inflammatory cytokine levels (IL-6, TNF-α, and iNOS). In addition, the hydrogel demonstrates good cytocompatibility and anti-inflammatory, and promotes cell migration. Utilizing full-thickness defects of burns and infected burns, we demonstrated that the combined actions of targeted recognition/killing of bacteria and UV-triggered on-demand release of immunomodulatory H₂S significantly enhanced the burn wound healing process. This adhesive, self-healing, and removable supramolecular hydrogel dressing, with enhanced targeted recognition and killing of bacteria and on-demand in situ H₂S delivery, holds promising application in burn wounds.

Keywords: Burn wound healing; Poly(thioctic acid); Supramolecular adhesive hydrogel; UV-triggered on-demand release of H(2)S.