Green tea catechin-grafted silk fibroin hydrogels with reactive oxygen species scavenging activity for wound healing applications

Background Overproduction of reactive oxygen species (ROS) is known to delay wound healing by causing oxidative tissue damage and inflammation. The green tea catechin, (-)-Epigallocatechin-3-O-gallate (EGCG), has drawn a great deal of interest due to its strong ROS scavenging and anti-inflammatory activities. In this study, we developed EGCG-grafted silk fibroin hydrogels as a potential wound dressing material. Methods The introduction of EGCG to water-soluble silk fibroin (SF-WS) was accomplished by the nucleophilic addition reaction between lysine residues in silk proteins and EGCG quinone at mild basic pH. The resulting SF-EGCG conjugate was co-crosslinked with tyramine-substituted SF (SF-T) via horseradish peroxidase (HRP)/H2O2 mediated enzymatic reaction to form SF-T/SF-EGCG hydrogels with series of composition ratios. Results Interestingly, SF-T70/SF-EGCG30 hydrogels exhibited rapid in situ gelation (< 30 s), similar storage modulus to human skin (approximate to 1000 Pa) and superior wound healing performance over SF-T hydrogels and a commercial DuoDERM (R) gel dressings in a rat model of full thickness skin defect. Conclusion This study will provide useful insights into a rational design of ROS scavenging biomaterials for wound healing applications.