A temperature-sensitive hydrogel loaded with taxifolin promotes skin repair by modulating MAPK-mediated autophagic pathway

Today, skin wound healing is still a huge challenge, and how to effectively repair wounds has become a pressing issue. Hydrogel is a very promising treatment. In this study, we prepared a temperature-sensitive hydrogel by loading the active factor taxifolin (TAX) into poloxamer 407, chitosan (CS), and hyaluronic acid (HA). Scanning electron microscopy, X diffraction, and infrared spectroscopy revealed that taxifolin was successfully loaded in the temperature-sensitive hydrogel (TAX-gel). The cross-linked hydrogels exhibited better thermal stability, antioxidant activity, slow release, and safety. In addition, taxifolin composite hydrogel could accelerate the repair of skin damage in mice, and the analysis of the mechanism may be related to the activation of MAPK-mediated autophagy and the increase in VEGF, Pan-Keratin, and CD31 protein expression levels. In this experiment, by constructing a taxifolin temperature-sensitive hydrogel and revealing its mechanism of accelerating skin repair, we fill the gap of taxifolin temperature-sensitive hydrogel and lay the foundation for the development of clinical medical dressing products. Graphical abstract TAX-gel accelerates skin wound repair in mice.