{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,17]],"date-time":"2026-09-17T12:05:12Z","timestamp":1789646712761,"version":"4.0.0"},"reference-count":38,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"18","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,17]],"date-time":"2026-09-17T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1789603200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Taishan Scholars Program of Shandong Province","award":["tsqn201909104"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["tsqn201909104"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Polymers"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Bacterial infection and persistent oxidative stress can impair wound healing and limit the efficacy of conventional antibacterial therapies. Here, we developed a pH- and near-infrared (NIR) light-responsive polymer hydrogel microneedle (PHMN) system by incorporating curcumin-loaded polydopamine particles (PDA@CUR) into photo-crosslinked methacrylated hyaluronic acid (HAMA) microneedles with a poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) backing layer. The synthesized CUR-loaded PDA nanoparticles (PDA@CUR) exhibited uniform spherical morphology, efficient CUR loading, and pH- and NIR light-responsive drug release. The fabricated PHMN\/PDA@CUR patch displayed a well-defined array, sufficient mechanical strength, and efficient photothermal conversion under NIR irradiation. The patch could effectively inhibit both E. coli and S. aureus, with NIR irradiation further enhancing antibacterial activity. This PHMN-based system also exhibited favorable cytocompatibility and significantly alleviated H2O2-induced cellular oxidative injury. Overall, the PHMN\/PDA@CUR patch integrate localized drug delivery, NIR-enhanced photothermal antibacterial activity, and cellular protection, providing an in vitro proof-of-concept platform for localized management relevant to infected wounds.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/polym18182269","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,17]],"date-time":"2026-09-17T11:41:35Z","timestamp":1789645295000},"page":"2269","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["pH- and Near-Infrared Light Dual-Responsive Hydrogel Microneedles Incorporating Polydopamine-Based Curcumin-Loaded Nanoparticles for Antibacterial and Oxidative Injury Protection"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"18","author":[{"given":"Xinyue","family":"Wang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Qingdao University, Qingdao 266071, China"},{"name":"School of Polymer Science and Engineering, Qingdao University of Science and Technology, Qingdao 266042, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"methodology","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"software","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"formal-analysis","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"investigation","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"writing-original-draft","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"resources","vocabulary":"credit"}]},{"given":"Ranran","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Qingdao University, Qingdao 266071, China"},{"name":"School of Polymer Science and Engineering, Qingdao University of Science and Technology, Qingdao 266042, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"methodology","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"software","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"formal-analysis","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"investigation","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"data-curation","vocabulary":"credit"}]},{"given":"Junyu","family":"Yi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Polymer Science and Engineering, Qingdao University of Science and Technology, Qingdao 266042, China"},{"name":"Institute of Biomedical Engineering, College of Life Science, Qingdao University, Qingdao 266071, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"methodology","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"formal-analysis","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"investigation","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"data-curation","vocabulary":"credit"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9417-0550","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Yan","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Qingdao University, Qingdao 266071, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"conceptualization","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"writing-review-editing","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"funding-acquisition","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"project-administration","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"supervision","vocabulary":"credit"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3838-8659","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Gang","family":"Wei","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Polymer Science and Engineering, Qingdao University of Science and Technology, Qingdao 266042, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"conceptualization","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"writing-review-editing","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"funding-acquisition","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"project-administration","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"supervision","vocabulary":"credit"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,17]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"125636","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ijbiomac.2023.125636","article-title":"Biological macromolecules-based nanoformulation in improving wound healing and bacterial biofilm-associated infection: A review","volume":"247","author":"Garg","year":"2023","journal-title":"Int. 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