Two-Dimensional Borocarbonitride Nanosheet-Engineered Hydrogel as an All-In-One Platform for Melanoma Therapy and Skin Regeneration

The postoperative tumor recurrence and repairing skin defects in clinical melanoma therapy remain challenging. Recent years have seen the development of visible-to-near-infrared (NIR) light for melanoma therapy or tissue regeneration. For solving the integrated issue of melanoma treatment and skin wounds repair, a gentle and efficient strategy is essential to utilize the multifunction of light. Here, we presented a new lightmediation concept and reported a light-responsive intelligent nitride (BCN) nanosheets into the methacrylated hyaluronic acid (HA) matrix (HA@BCN). The hydrogel was skillfully fabricated under the activation of blue light and exhibited excellent biocompatibility, mechanical robustness, and biodegradability, and then, a gentle and powerful multifunction for cutaneous melanoma therapy and wound healing under NIR light irradiation was performed. Based on this result, multifunctional hydrogels could be triggered by NIR light (0.35 W/cm2) for killing tumor cells, at least an 80% mortality rate in 10 min. Subsequently, the HA@BCN hydrogel could release more boron moieties as the growth promoter under moderate NIR light irradiation, which largely accelerated the wound healing. Therefore, our discovery presented a light-mediated and 2D nanomaterial-functionalized versatile hydrogel system for cutaneous melanoma photothermal therapy.

Automated summary

In recent years, visible-to-near-infrared (NIR) light has been developed for melanoma therapy and tissue regeneration. Researchers have discovered that a hydrogel called HA@BCN, fabricated under blue light activation, can achieve gentle and powerful melanoma therapy and wound healing under NIR light irradiation. The hydrogel can be triggered by NIR light to achieve at least an 80% mortality rate in tumor cells within 10 minutes, and it can also accelerate wound healing.