Diabetic wounds, as a complication of diabetes, are slow to heal and seriously affect the quality of life of patients. Functional hydrogel dressing is an effective approach to improve diabetic wound healing. Electrical stimulation (ES) therapy is conducive to promoting cell migration and wound healing. In this work, a multifunctional PPTZ hydrogel wound dressing was developed by freeze-thaw method with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), phytic acid (PA), tannic acid (TA), and Zinc chloride. The obtained PPTZ hydrogel has good mechanical properties (stress and strain of 700.03 kPa and 575.08%), light transmittance (close to 100%) and antibacterial rate (over 75%). With good biocompatibility, antioxidant abilities and conductivity, the PPTZ hydrogel could effectively promote the healing of diabetic wounds with two weeks under the action of electric field, which provides an auxiliary treatment strategy for diabetic patients.

Burns are a common medical problem globally, and wound infection is one of the major causes of inducing related complications. Although antibiotics effectively prevent wound infections, the misuse of antibiotics has created a new problem of superbugs. Herein, we propose a new strategy to obtain pH-responsive antimicrobial P-ZIF (ZIF: zeolitic imidazolate framework) by loading polyhexamethylenebiguanide (PHMB) into the framework of ZIF-8 nanoparticles. This will enable PHMB to be released in the weak acid environment of an infected wound. To address burn infections, P-ZIF nanoparticles were loaded into a hydrogel system made of sodium alginate (SA) and 3-aminophenylboronic acid modified human-like collagen (H-A) through borate ester bonds. The resulting H-A/SA/P-ZIF (HASPZ) hydrogel dressing not only possesses antibacterial and wound healing properties but also has dual pH responsiveness to prevent the overuse of medication while effectively treat deep second-degree burns. Therefore, P-ZIF nanoparticles and the corresponding HASPZ hydrogel dressing are considered of significant importance in antimicrobial, drug delivery, and wound repair.

The repair and treatment of tumor bone defects is a difficult problem to solve urgently in clinical medicine. After tumor resection, patients are not only faced with a large area of bone defect, but also may have the risk of tumor recurrence, which can easily cause huge physical and mental harm to patients. In this study, we successfully designed and constructed an organic/inorganic composite microgel bone powder (S-H-M_3%Ce/3%Se) based on cerium (Ce) and selenium (Se) elements co-doped mesoporous bioactive glass (M_3%Ce/3%Se), sodium alginate (SA), and recombinant human-like collagen (HLC). The obtained S-H-M_3%Ce/3%Se could inhibit the growth of osteoma cells and promote the growth of normal cells, and effectively promote the repair of defect bone. The integration of the “treatment and repair” organic/inorganic composite microgel bone powder provided a new strategy for the treatment of cancerous bone defects.

Solar dermatitis is an acute or chronic high incidence of skin injury caused by ultraviolet (UV) radiation based on strong sunlight, which seriously endangers people's health. In this study, we designed and demonstrated enzyme-catalyzed semi-inter penetrating polymer network (Semi-IPN) sprayable nanodrug-loaded hydrogels based on gelatin, 3-(4-hydroxyphenyl) propionic acid (HPA), polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), glycerol, and dexamethasone sodium phosphate (DEXP) for solar dermatitis. The hydrogels had high water content, excellent biocompatibility, effective encapsulation and sustained release of nanodrugs, anti-inflammatory, and strong anti-ultraviolet B (anti-UVB) radiation properties based on glycerol and phenol functional groups, but also controllable spray gelation mode to make them adhere well on the dynamic skin surfaces and achieve continuous transdermal drugs delivery for solar dermatitis. The sprayable nanodrug-loaded hydrogel systems could be used as a highly effective therapeutic method for solar dermatitis, and also provide a good strategy for designing novel nanodrug-loaded hydrogel delivery systems.

Whitlockite (WH, Ca₁₈Mg₂(HPO₄)₂(PO₄)₁₂) is an important inorganic phase in human bones and has positive significance for participating in the bone reconstruction process. In this paper, we report different doping strategies to prepare WH and WH-Ln (Eu/Tb) nanocrystals, and have successfully synthesized WH-Ln (Eu/Tb) nanoparticles (NPs) with bright red or green fluorescence based on ions exchange doping by two-step hydrothermal reaction. WH-5%Ln (Eu/Tb) NPs with the best fluorescence properties were successfully applied to live cell imaging, and WH-5%Eu NPs were implanted into the bone defect site in rabbit femoral condyles to visually observe its degradation process. The related results would help us understand WH nanocrystals and further expand their potential applications in tissue engineering and related fields.