NG@B87@HA Hydrogel regulates glycolysis bidirectionally to promote wound healing in type 2 diabetes mellitus

Diabetic wounds are characterized by an imbalance between impaired angiogenesis and persistent pro-inflammatory immune responses, leading to chronic non-healing. Under hyperglycemic and oxidative stress conditions, the glycolytic function of endothelial cells is significantly compromised. However, solely enhancing angiogenesis does not effectively promote diabetic wound healing due to concomitant dysregulation of the local immune microenvironment, which further suppresses vascularization. Notably, Th1 cells dominate the diabetic wound immune milieu and exacerbate inflammatory responses, thereby aggravating immune imbalance. Thus, an optimal therapeutic strategy should simultaneously target both inflammatory dysregulation and vascular dysfunction. To address the phenomenon of cell-specific metabolic reprogramming within diabetic wounds, where glycolytic activity is impaired in endothelial cells yet enhanced in Th1 cells, this study developed a glucose-responsive NG@B87@HA hydrogel system designed to reprogram the local metabolic network and modulate Th1 cell metabolism while restoring endothelial function. The hydrogel incorporates nanoparticles functionalized with CXCR3 antibody to specifically target Th1 cells and deliver the glycolysis inhibitor Bay87-2243 (B87), thereby suppressing their glycolytic flux and inflammatory activity via inhibition of the HIF-1α–GLUT1 signaling axis. Simultaneously, naringin (NG), which acts as a crosslinker, forms dynamic boronic ester bonds with HA-PBA and PVA, enabling glucose-dependent responsiveness. This mechanism not only mitigates local oxidative stress but also enhances the tube-forming capacity of endothelial cells, ultimately promoting angiogenesis. The results demonstrated that the NG@B87@HA hydrogel effectively restores the dysregulated metabolic network in diabetic wounds. By concurrently rectifying immune microenvironment imbalance and endothelial dysfunction, this system provides a novel therapeutic strategy for accelerating diabetic wound healing.