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. 2023 Oct 3;15(19):3978.
doi: 10.3390/polym15193978.

Antibacterial Gelatin Composite Hydrogels Comprised of In Situ Formed Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles

Ya-Chu Yu  1 , Ming-Hsien Hu  2   3 , Hui-Zhong Zhuang  1 , Thi Ha My Phan  1 , Yi-Sheng Jiang  1 , Jeng-Shiung Jan  1
Affiliations

Antibacterial Gelatin Composite Hydrogels Comprised of In Situ Formed Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles

Ya-Chu Yu et al. Polymers (Basel). .

Abstract

We report the feasibility of using gelatin hydrogel networks as the host for the in situ, environmentally friendly formation of well-dispersed zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnONPs) and the evaluation of the antibacterial activity of the as-prepared composite hydrogels. The resulting composite hydrogels displayed remarkable biocompatibility and antibacterial activity as compared to those in previous studies, primarily attributed to the uniform distribution of the ZnONPs with sizes smaller than 15 nm within the hydrogel network. In addition, the composite hydrogels exhibited better thermal stability and mechanical properties as well as lower swelling ratios compared to the unloaded counterpart, which could be attributed to the non-covalent interactions between the in situ formed ZnONPs and polypeptide chains. The presence of ZnONPs contributed to the disruption of bacterial cell membranes, the alteration of DNA molecules, and the subsequent release of reactive oxygen species within the bacterial cells. This chain of events culminated in bacterial cell lysis and DNA fragmentation. This research underscores the potential benefits of incorporating antibacterial agents into hydrogels and highlights the significance of preparing antimicrobial agents within gel networks.

Keywords: antimicrobial; composite hydrogel; gelatin; in situ formation; nanoparticle.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Scheme 1
Scheme 1
(a) The formula of the ZnO-loaded gelatin hydrogel, (b) the illustration of the hydrogel synthesis process.
Figure 1
Figure 1
(a) Appearance of the hydrogels. The scale bar is 50 mm. (b) FT-IR spectra of ZnONPs, GelMA polypeptide, and Gelatin/ZnO30 hydrogel. (c) Transmittance spectra of gelatin and ZnO-loaded gelatin hydrogels.
Figure 2
Figure 2
(a) Scanning electron microscopy section images of a cross section of the Gelatin/ZnO30 hydrogel. The scale bar is 100 μm. (b) EDS analysis of the elemental distribution of zinc, carbon, and oxygen. The scale bar is 200 nm.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Swelling ratio of the freeze-dried Gelatin/ZnO1, Gelatin/ZnO10, Gelatin/ZnO30, and gelatin hydrogels (n = 3). Statistical significance for * p < 0.05.
Figure 4
Figure 4
SEM images of S. flexneri (a,d), EHEC (b,e), and S. aureus (c,f) in the absence (a–c) and presence (d–f) of the Gelatin/ZnO30 hydrogel. The scale bar was 3 μm.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Cytotoxicity of the gelatin hydrogel and the ZnO-loaded gelatin hydrogels evaluated in (a) NIH/3T3 and (b) BEAS-2B cells treated for 24 h. Cell viability was detected by the CCK8 kit (n = 3).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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