Injectable Micromotor@Hydrogel System for Antibacterial Therapy

The drug delivery system based on nano/micromotors has become a research hot spot in recent years. However, naked micromotors may be ruptured or passivated under the complex biological environment, which will result in the leakage of drugs in advance or limited self-propulsion performance. Herein, an injectable micromotor@hydrogel drug delivery system to protect micromotors from the external environment is proposed. The micromotors were prepared through layer-by-layer assembly technology. The asymmetric decomposition of hydrogen peroxide catalyzed by the locally distributed platinum nanoparticles enabled efficient propulsion of the micromotors in low concentration of hydrogen peroxide. In order to protect micromotors, they were loaded into the Schiff base hydrogel. The micromotor@hydrogel system can be injected directly into the lesion to release micromotors in response to the environment, reducing external influence on micromotors and improving the sustained-release effect. Erythromycin (Ery) loaded into the micromotors and the micromotor@hydrogel system demonstrated excellent antibacterial effect. Micromotors released from the hydrogel underwent enhanced diffusion in the surroundings of bacteria without addition of exogenous hydrogen peroxide, which was manifested by their appearance in edge of the inhibition zone. The proposed micromotor@hydrogel drug delivery system offers a new strategy for the treatment of bacterial infections.

Automated summary

The drug delivery system based on nano/micromotors has attracted significant research interest. In this study, an injectable micromotor@hydrogel drug delivery system was developed to protect micromotors from the external environment and enhance sustained drug release.