Four-dimensional hydrogel dressing adaptable to the urethral microenvironment for scarless urethral reconstruction

Yujie Hua, Kai Wang, Yingying Huo, Yaping Zhuang, Yuhui Wang, Wenzhuo Fang, Yuyan Sun, Guangdong Zhou, Qiang Fu (), Wenguo Cui () and Kaile Zhang ()
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Yujie Hua: Shanghai Sixth People’s Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University
Kai Wang: Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine
Yingying Huo: Shanghai Ninth People’s Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Tissue Engineering
Yaping Zhuang: Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine
Yuhui Wang: Shanghai Sixth People’s Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University
Wenzhuo Fang: Shanghai Sixth People’s Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University
Yuyan Sun: Shanghai Ninth People’s Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Tissue Engineering
Guangdong Zhou: Shanghai Ninth People’s Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Tissue Engineering
Qiang Fu: Shanghai Sixth People’s Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University
Wenguo Cui: Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine
Kaile Zhang: Shanghai Sixth People’s Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University

Nature Communications, 2023, vol. 14, issue 1, 1-16

Abstract: Abstract The harsh urethral microenvironment (UME) after trauma severely hinders the current hydrogel-based urethral repair. In fact, four-dimensional (4D) consideration to mimic time-dependent physiological processes is essential for scarless urethral reconstruction, which requires balancing extracellular matrix (ECM) deposition and remodeling at different healing stages. In this study, we develop a UME-adaptable 4D hydrogel dressing to sequentially provide an early-vascularized microenvironment and later-antifibrogenic microenvironment for scarless urethral reconstruction. With the combination of dynamic boronic ester crosslinking and covalent photopolymerization, the resultant gelatin methacryloyl phenylboronic acid/cis-diol-crosslinked (GMPD) hydrogels exhibit mussel-mimetic viscoelasticity, satisfactory adhesion, and acid-reinforced stability, which can adapt to harsh UME. In addition, a temporally on-demand regulatory (TOR) technical platform is introduced into GMPD hydrogels to create a time-dependent 4D microenvironment. As a result, physiological urethral recovery is successfully mimicked by means of an early-vascularized microenvironment to promote wound healing by activating the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) signaling pathway, as well as a later-antifibrogenic microenvironment to prevent hypertrophic scar formation by timing transforming growth factor-β (TGFβ) signaling pathway inhibition. Both in vitro molecular mechanisms of the physiological healing process and in vivo scarless urethral reconstruction in a rabbit model are effectively verified, providing a promising alternative for urethral injury treatment.

Date: 2023
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-43421-w

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