Orthopedic Institute, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital, State Key Laboratory of Radiation Medicine and Protection, School of Radiation Medicine and Protection and Interdisciplinary Sciences (RAD-X), Collaborative Innovation Center of Radiation Medicine of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions, Suzhou Medical College, Soochow University, Suzhou, Jiangsu 215006, China.
School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210094, China.
Sci Adv. 2023 May 26;9(21):eadf8645. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.adf8645.
Implant-associated infection is a major threat affecting the success of orthopedic surgeries. Although various materials scavenge bacteria by generating reactive oxygen species (ROS), the intrinsic inability of ROS to distinguish bacteria from cells notably limits the therapeutic effects. Here, we found that the arginine carbon dots (Arg-CDs) that were transformed from arginine exhibited supreme antibacterial and osteoinductive activity. We further designed the Schiff base bond between Arg-CDs and aldehyde hyaluronic acid/gelatin methacryloyl (HG) hydrogel to release Arg-CDs in response to the acidic bone injury microenvironment. The free Arg-CDs could selectively kill bacteria by generating excessive ROS. Furthermore, the Arg-CD-loaded HG composite hydrogel showed excellent osteoinductive activity through inducing the M2 polarization of macrophages by up-regulating interleukin-10 () expression. Together, our findings revealed that transformation of the arginine into zero-dimensional Arg-CDs could endow the material with exceptional antibacterial and osteoinductive activity, favoring the regeneration of infectious bone.
植入物相关感染是影响骨科手术成功的主要威胁。虽然各种材料通过产生活性氧（ROS）来清除细菌，但 ROS 从细胞中区分细菌的固有能力显著限制了治疗效果。在这里，我们发现由精氨酸转化而来的精氨酸碳点（Arg-CDs）表现出卓越的抗菌和骨诱导活性。我们进一步设计了 Arg-CDs 与醛基透明质酸/明胶甲基丙烯酰（HG）水凝胶之间的席夫碱键，以响应酸性骨损伤微环境释放 Arg-CDs。游离的 Arg-CDs 可以通过产生过量的 ROS 选择性杀死细菌。此外，载有 Arg-CD 的 HG 复合水凝胶通过上调白细胞介素 10（）表达诱导巨噬细胞 M2 极化，表现出优异的骨诱导活性。总之，我们的研究结果表明，将精氨酸转化为零维 Arg-CDs 可以赋予材料优异的抗菌和骨诱导活性，有利于感染性骨的再生。
