Engineered Bio-Heterojunction Confers Extra- and Intracellular Bacterial Ferroptosis and Hunger-Triggered Cell Protection for Diabetic Wound Repair

Abstract

Nanomaterial-mediated ferroptosis has garnered considerable interest in the antibacterial field, as it invokes the disequilibrium of ion homeostasis and boosts lipid peroxidation in extra- and intracellular bacteria. However, current ferroptosis-associated antibacterial strategies indiscriminately pose damage to healthy cells, ultimately compromising their biocompatibility. To address this daunting issue, this work has designed a precise ferroptosis bio-heterojunction (F-bio-HJ) consisting of Fe₂ O₃ , Ti₃ C₂ -MXene, and glucose oxidase (GOx) to induce extra-intracellular bacteria-targeted ferroptosis for infected diabetic cutaneous regeneration. Fe₂ O₃ /Ti₃ C₂ -MXene@GOx (FMG) catalytically generates a considerable amount of ROS which assaults the membrane of extracellular bacteria, facilitating the permeation of synchronously generated Fe²⁺ /Fe³⁺ into bacteria under near-infrared (NIR) irradiation, causing planktonic bacterial death via ferroptosis, Fe²⁺ overload, and lipid peroxidation. Additionally, FMG facilitates intracellular bacterial ferroptosis by transporting Fe²⁺ into intracellular bacteria via inward ferroportin (FPN). With GOx consuming glucose, FMG creates hunger protection which helps macrophages escape cell ferroptosis by activating the adenosine 5'-monophosphate (AMP) activated protein kinase (AMPK) pathway. In vivo results authenticate that FMG boosts diabetic infectious cutaneous regeneration without triggering ferroptosis in normal cells. As envisaged, the proposed tactic provides a promising approach to combat intractable infections by precisely terminating extra-intracellular infection via steerable ferroptosis, thereby markedly elevating the biocompatibility of therapeutic ferroptosis-mediated strategies.

Keywords: antibacterial; bio-heterojunction; cell protection; cutaneous regeneration; ferroptosis.