An antioxidant, injectable hydrogel with mitochondrial fusion effect promotes inflamed dental pulp repair via immunomodulation and reactive oxygen species scavenging

作者：Dan Wang, Yongle Lv, Fei Xie, Yanqiang Zhao, Bowen Ren, Shanshan Jin, Ningxin Zhu, Man Qin, Zhiqiang Lin, Lei Wang, Yuanyuan Wang · 发表于：Biomaterials · 年份：2026 · DOI：10.1016/j.biomaterials.2026.123985 · 被引用次数：2 · 研究领域：Endodontics and Root Canal Treatments、Bone and Dental Protein Studies、Wound Healing and Treatments

Vital dental pulp is crucial for the self-repair and long-term retention of teeth with pulpitis; pulp capping materials used for vital pulp therapy must involve controlling inflammatory cascade and regulating inflammatory microenvironment at the same time. Here, we designed a dual-effect hydrogel with immunoregulatory and antioxidant properties to achieve inflamed pulp tissue repair. MASM7, a “mitochondrial glue” promoting mitochondrial fusion, could modulate THP-1-derived macrophages (THP-1-M) polarization to the M2 type under LPS-stimulated inflammatory conditions. Seahorse assay and metabolic-flux analysis (MFA) revealed that mitochondrial fusion modulated metabolic reprogramming of THP-1-M under inflammation from glycolysis to OXPHOS. Moreover, MASM7-treated THP-1-M cells enhanced the repair ability of DPSCs under inflammatory conditions. To realize the application of MASM7 and antioxidant property, chitosan (CS) and methacrylic anhydride (MA) were used to synthesize a methacrylated CS (CSMA) hydrogel, which was then modified with gallic acid (GA) to form a CSMAGA hydrogel. We next confirmed the biocompatibility of this hydrogel. The CSMAGA hydrogel also demonstrated antioxidant properties by scavenging reactive oxygen species. We then confirmed the dual effects of MASM7@CSMAGA hydrogel in rats with LPS-stimulated pulpitis. In conclusion, MASM7@CSMAGA hydrogel can promote pulp tissue repair under inflammatory conditions by modulating macrophage polarization and oxidative ...