TiO/CIP/SilMA hydrogels promote the repair of infected wounds by interfering with bacterial signaling and energy metabolism

Wound infection has become a major problem worldwide and presents a series of challenges for clinical treatment. With the emergence of drug-resistant bacteria in recent years, a single antibiotic is not enough to solve some clinical problems. The development of new metal nanomaterials provides new ideas for overcoming bacterial resistance. However, owing to the limited antibacterial properties of metal nanomaterials, their efficacy can be enhanced to a certain extent by photothermal therapy (PTT), thereby preventing the emergence of drug-resistant bacteria. Thus, a titanium oxide (TiO)/ciprofloxacin (CIP)/silk fibroin methacrylate (SilMA) hydrogel with synergistic photothermal antibiotics for infection wound repair was prepared in this study. In vitro and in vivo experiments reveal that the TiO/CIP/SilMA hydrogel had certain photothermal and antibacterial properties. The transcriptome results revealed that the TiO/CIP/SilMA hydrogel promoted the repair of infected wounds by interfering with bacterial signaling and energy metabolism. The design of this study provides a novel therapeutic strategy to address bacterial resistance.