{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,5]],"date-time":"2026-08-05T05:52:11Z","timestamp":1785909131683,"version":"3.56.0"},"reference-count":56,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,5]],"date-time":"2026-08-05T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1785888000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Bioeng. Biotechnol."],"abstract":"<jats:p>\n                    A delay in wound healing significantly impacts a patient\u2019s quality of life. Although numerous materials have been developed for healing strategies, there remains a need to create a patient-friendly, patient-specific, and biocompatible product for the market. Biopolymer-based hydrogel dressings significantly influence wound healing by mimicking the extracellular matrix, promoting cell growth, regulating moisture levels, and preventing infection. In this study, biopolymers such as \u03ba-carrageenan (\u03ba-Ca) and gelatin (Gel) were chemically modified with methacrylic anhydride (MA) to produce photocurable \u03ba-carrageenan methacrylate (\u03ba-Ca-MA) and gelatin methacrylate (Gel-MA). A hydrogel patch was subsequently fabricated using visible-light photocrosslinking for wound-healing applications. The fabricated photocrosslinked composite hydrogel patch (PCHP) was comprehensively characterized with respect to its morphological structure, swelling, degradation behavior, and viscoelastic properties. The fabricated PCHP demonstrated gel-like behavior, good stability, and shear-thinning properties. Compression testing on PCHP revealed a compressive modulus of 234\u2013239\u00a0kPa, demonstrating adequate mechanical integrity for wound-site application. Additionally, antibiotic-loaded PCHPs demonstrated slow, sustained antibiotic release with efficient bactericidal activity against\n                    <jats:italic>Escherichia coli<\/jats:italic>\n                    and\n                    <jats:italic>Staphylococcus aureus<\/jats:italic>\n                    , as well as notable radical-scavenging activity. Scratch assays demonstrated effective promotion of wound healing through enhanced cell migration, resulting in complete wound closure within 24\u00a0h. NIH3T3 fibroblasts cultured on PCHPs showed greater than 95% viability and cell proliferation over 5 days. Furthermore, \u03ba-Ca-MA- and Gel-MA-based hydrogels were suitable for 3D printing in a layer-by-layer manner using digital light processing (DLP), highlighting their potential for advanced biomedical applications. Therefore, the visible-light photocrosslinking approach enables the creation of a multifunctional product for wound-healing applications, thereby improving patients\u2019 quality of life.\n                  <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/fbioe.2026.1846548","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,5]],"date-time":"2026-08-05T05:38:54Z","timestamp":1785908334000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Fabrication of a visible light photocrosslinkable \u03ba-carrageenan-gelatin hydrogel patch to aid in wound healing applications"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"14","author":[{"family":"Menaga S","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre for Biomaterials, Cellular and Molecular Theranostics, Vellore Institute of Technology","place":["Vellore, India"]},{"name":"School of Bio Sciences and Technology (SBST), Vellore Institute of Technology","place":["Vellore, India"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sushma","family":"Kumari","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre for Biomaterials, Cellular and Molecular Theranostics, Vellore Institute of Technology","place":["Vellore, India"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,5]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"240","DOI":"10.1016\/j.matpr.2020.12.922","article-title":"A review of gelatin: properties, sources, process, applications, and commercialisation","volume":"42","author":"Alipal","year":"2021","journal-title":"Mater. 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