Ångstrom-scale silver particle–embedded carbomer gel promotes wound healing by inhibiting bacterial colonization and inflammation
Chun‐Yuan Chen, Hao Yin, Xia Chen, Tuan‐Hui Chen, Haoming Liu, Shan‐Shan Rao, Yi‐Juan Tan, Yuxuan Qian, Yi-Wei Liu, Xiong‐Ke Hu, Mingjie Luo, Zhen‐Xing Wang, Zhengzhao Liu, Jia Cao, Zehui He, Ben Wu, Tao Yue, Yiyi Wang, Kun Xia, Zhong‐Wei Luo, Yang Wang, Wei‐Yi Situ, Wenen Liu, Siyuan Tang, Hui Xie
Abstract
Poor wound healing after diabetes or extensive burn remains a challenging problem. Recently, we presented a physical approach to fabricate ultrasmall silver particles from Ångstrom scale to nanoscale and determined the antitumor efficacy of Ångstrom-scale silver particles (AgÅPs) in the smallest size range. Here we used the medium-sized AgÅPs (65.9 ± 31.6 Å) to prepare carbomer gel incorporated with these larger AgÅPs (L-AgÅPs-gel) and demonstrated the potent broad-spectrum antibacterial activity of L-AgÅPs-gel without obvious toxicity on wound healing-related cells. Induction of reactive oxygen species contributed to L-AgÅPs-gel-induced bacterial death. Topical application of L-AgÅPs-gel to mouse skin triggered much stronger effects than the commercial silver nanoparticles (AgNPs)-gel to prevent bacterial colonization, reduce inflammation, and accelerate diabetic and burn wound healing. L-AgÅPs were distributed locally in skin without inducing systemic toxicities. This study suggests that L-AgÅPs-gel represents an effective and safe antibacterial and anti-inflammatory material for wound therapy.