Bioactive anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, conductive multifunctional scaffold based on MXene@CeO2 nanocomposites for infection-impaired skin multimodal therapy

Overcoming multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacterial infection and simultaneously enhancing wound healing/skin reconstruction are still critical challenges for both clinic practice and fundamental research. The single modal therapy strategy is usually inefficient. Herein, for the first time, multifunctional MXene@CeO2 nanocomposites were prepared by combining the 2D antibacterial conductive Ti3C2Tx MXenes and antioxidant CeO2 and applied in developing multifunctional hydrogel scaffold (FOM) for MDR infection-impaired skin multimodal therapy. FOM scaffold was fabricated by incorporating MXene@CeO2 nanocomposites in a dynamic Schiff-based chemical crosslinked hydrogel of polyethylenimine grafted Pluronic F127 (F127-PEI) and oxidized sodium alginate (OSA). FOM scaffold possessed multifunctional properties including injectable self-healing behavior, efficient antiinflammatory, antibacterial, and antioxidative abilities, conductive bioactivities, tissue-adhesive ability and fast hemostatic capacity. FOM scaffold could promote fibroblasts migration and cell proliferation with electrical stimulation. Additionally, FOM scaffold demonstrated the significant anti-inflammatory and multidrug resistant infection therapy, meanwhile promoting fibroblasts proliferation, granulation tissue formation, collagen deposition, re-epithelialization to accelerate MDR-infected wound healing. This work firstly demonstrated the important role of multifunctional MXene@CeO2 nanocomposites in infected-wound healing/skin reconstruction. This study provided an efficient multimodal therapy on MDR infection-impaired skin via the optimization of the structure and multifunctional properties of biomaterials.

Automated summary

This study successfully developed multifunctional MXene@CeO2 nanocomposites for a hydrogel scaffold with various properties for treating MDR-infected skin, including self-healing, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antioxidative, conductive, tissue-adhesive, and hemostatic capabilities. The scaffold showed efficacy in promoting cell migration and proliferation, accelerating wound healing, and addressing multidrug resistant infections.