AI Article Synopsis

  • Drug-resistant bacterial infections, particularly from MRSA, and biofilm formation are major challenges for wound healing, prompting the need for innovative treatment methods.
  • Researchers developed a pH-responsive peptide hydrogel incorporating curcumin that releases in acidic conditions, aiming to combat MRSA infections and enhance healing.
  • The study demonstrated that this hydrogel significantly lowered the effective dose of curcumin needed against MRSA and improved wound healing in infected mice, suggesting a promising new approach to tackle resistant infections.

Article Abstract

Drug-resistant bacterial infection and biofilm formation are the key inhibitors of wound healing, and new strategies are urgently needed to address these issues. In this study, we designed a pH-responsive co-assembled peptide hydrogel to inhibit Methicillin-resistant (MRSA) infection and promote wound healing. We synthesized a cationic short peptide (Nap-FFKKK) and a co-assembled hydrogel with curcumin at pH ∼ 7.8. The loaded curcumin was continuously released in a weak acid environment (pH ∼ 5.5). The lysine-rich cationic peptide inhibited biofilm formation in MRSA via electrostatic interaction with the negatively charged bacterial cell surface and, thus, provided a reinforcing antibacterial effect with curcumin. In vitro antibacterial experiments showed that the co-assembled system considerably reduced the minimum inhibitory concentration of curcumin against MRSA by 10-fold and promoted wound healing in a mouse model of MRSA-infected wounds. This study provides a simple and promising strategy to treat drug-resistant bacterial infections in wounds.

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Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acsami.3c18436DOI Listing

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