ε ‐Poly‐L‐Lysine Derived Fluorescent Carbon Dots for Infected Wound Healing Through Electrostatic Membrane Disruption and ROS Scavenging
Biao Yang, Runxin Teng, Jiaxi Xu, Shangpeng Liu, Zhuo Zhang, Wei Hu, Min Sun, Jinlong Qin, Lin Yang, Zhen FanABSTRACT
Diabetic wound, one of the most common diabetes complications, faces significant challenges with substantial medical and financial burdens. Clinically, conventional monotherapies struggle to disrupt the vicious cycle caused by persistent bacterial infections and a highly oxidative microenvironment. In this study, we developed poly‐L‐lysine and chitosan oligosaccharide lactate‐based antibacterial and antioxidative carbon dots ( ɛ ‐PLLCD) via a relatively low‐temperature incomplete carbonization strategy, which preserves the structural integrity and intrinsic functional groups of the polymer precursors. Consequently, ɛ ‐PLLCD exhibits broad‐spectrum bactericidal activity via electrostatic membrane disruption while concurrently acting as a potent ROS scavenger to neutralize the hyper‐oxidative wound microenvironment. In vitro assays confirmed antibacterial and antioxidative capabilities of ɛ ‐PLLCD. Meanwhile, S. aureus ‐infected diabetic mouse model was applied, showing that ɛ ‐PLLCD significantly accelerated wound closure with nearly 100% healing on day 9. In addition, downregulation of IL‐6 was also observed after mice were treated with ɛ ‐PLLCD, indicating effective antioxidative effects. Overall, this polypeptide‐based carbon dot could provide a strategy for the clinical management of chronic diabetic wounds.