Antimicrobial-Peptide-Inspired Mixed-Charge Polyurethane Copolymer Hydrogels: Charge-Ratio Design and Screening for Infected Wound Repair
Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: Inspired by the ionic and amphiphilic motifs of antimicrobial peptides, this study designed several mixed-charge polyurethane (MCPU) copolymer hydrogels in which the cation/anion charge ratio (C/A = 1.0-1.3)serves as the single structural variable.Charge-ratio tuning produced four physically crosslinked networks covering a 20-fold range in tensile strength (σb = 5.15-104 kPa) and a qualitative shift in network dynamics: C/A1.2 was identified as the mechanical optimum (σb = 104 kPa, toughness = 867 kJ m -3 ) and C/A1.3 (σb = 5.15 kPa), the most compliant one, was the only composition with tan δ > 1 across 10 to 1 rad s -1 (1.02→1.84),demonstrating viscous-dominant behavior at low deformation rates.Further, the antibacterial testing shows that only C/A1.2 and C/A1.3 are efficient contact-active bactericidal agents against 10 6 CFU mL -1 of S. aureus.Yet stepwise biosafety screening, cytocompatibility, hemolysis, and subcutaneous infected-interface evaluation, selected C/A1.3 over the mechanical optimum, C/A1.2.Moreover, the acute S. aureus-infected full-thickness wound model reveals that C/A1.3 is comparable to a clinically used antibacterial wound gel (Prontosan), achieving 98.3% bacterial reduction, accelerated wound closure, and attenuated IL-6/TNF-α expression.Notably, C/A1.3 presented a faster early wound closure performance than Prontosan (≈58% versus ≈21% at day 4).This work presents a series of charge-ratio-tunable MCPU copolymer hydrogels and a stepwise screening strategy for antibacterial wound interface applications.
Source: ChemRxiv
Author: Haoran Wang
Institution: Beijing University of Chemical Technology
Language: English
Topic: Wound Healing and Treatments
Subfield: Surgery
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7214990470