Single-Helical Dopamine-g-Curdlan Hydrogels Showing High Adhesiveness and Injectability.

Authors

Dongxue Lu, Tian Xiao, Lu Jiang, Yuge Xu, Yumeng Wang, Tengfei Guo, Ru Yang, Yifei Wang, Chaoxi Wu

Published in

ACS applied bio materials. Aug 14, 2026. Epub Aug 14, 2026.

Abstract

Polysaccharide-based hydrogels with strong tissue adhesion, injectability, and self-healing capability are highly desirable for wound management, yet their performance is often limited by rigid polymer conformations and insufficient interfacial interactions. Here, we report a mussel-inspired, dopamine-grafted curdlan hydrogel (Cur-DA) featuring a predominantly single-helical β-glucan architecture. Cur-DA hydrogels were synthesized under alkaline conditions using ethylene glycol diglycidyl ether (EGDE) as a linker, thereby facilitating regioselective dopamine grafting at the C6 position of curdlan. Spectroscopic analyses (UV-Vis, FTIR, solid-state 13C NMR, XRD, and circular dichroism), together with XPS characterization, confirmed successful dopamine incorporation and a conformational transition from native triple helices to more flexible single helices. With this single-helical architecture and catechol functionalization, Cur-DA formed a nanofibrous, porous network with high water content (>90%), increased swelling capacity, and excellent mechanical compliance. Owing to catechol-mediated interfacial interactions and the mobility of single-helical chains, which likely serve as dynamic "sticky ends," Cur-DA hydrogels exhibited robust tissue adhesion (up to 10.21 kPa), self-healing, and outstanding injectability. In vitro assays indicated excellent hemocompatibility and cytocompatibility. In a murine full-thickness skin wound model, an optimized formulation (Cur-DA3) accelerated wound closure, promoted re-epithelialization, and enhanced collagen deposition without inducing systemic toxicity. This work establishes a conformation-engineering strategy for β-glucan hydrogels and highlights Cur-DA as a promising injectable, adhesive wound dressing.

PMID:
42600106
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 15 Aug 2026.

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