Antiadhesion barriers such as films and
hydrogels used to wrap repaired tendons are important for preventing the formation of
adhesion tissue after tendon surgery. However, sliding of the tendon can compress the adjacent
hydrogel barrier and cause it to
rupture, which may then lead to unexpected
inflammation. Here, a self-healing and deformable
hyaluronic acid (HA)
hydrogel is constructed as a peritendinous antiadhesion barrier.
Matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2)-degradable
gelatin-methacryloyl (GelMA)
microspheres (MSs) encapsulated with Smad3-siRNA nanoparticles are entrapped within the HA
hydrogel to inhibit fibroblast proliferation and prevent peritendinous adhesion. GelMA MSs are responsively degraded by upregulation of MMP-2, achieving on-demand release of
siRNA nanoparticles. Silencing effect of Smad3-siRNA nanoparticles is around 75% toward targeted gene. Furthermore, the self-healing
hydrogel shows relatively attenuated
inflammation compared to non-healing
hydrogel. The mean adhesion scores of composite barrier group are 1.67 ± 0.51 and 2.17 ± 0.75 by macroscopic and histological evaluation, respectively. The proposed self-healing
hydrogel antiadhesion barrier with MMP-2-responsive drug release behavior is highly effective for decreasing
inflammation and inhibiting tendon adhesion. Therefore, this research provides a new strategy for the development of safe and effective antiadhesion barriers.