Papers of the Week

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic skin disease caused by skin immune dyshomeostasis and accompanied by severe pruritus. Although oxidative stress and mechanical scratching can aggravate AD inflammation, treatment targeting scratching is often overlooked, and the efficiency of mechano-chemically synergistic therapy remains unclear. Here, we find that enhanced phosphorylation of focal adhesion kinase (FAK) is associated with scratch-exacerbated AD. We then develop a multifunctional hydrogel dressing that integrates oxidative stress modulation with FAK inhibition to synergistically treat AD. We show that the adhesive, self-healing and antimicrobial hydrogel is suitable for the unique scratching and bacterial environment of AD skin. We demonstrate that it can scavenge intracellular reactive oxygen species and reduce mechanically induced intercellular junction deficiency and inflammation. Furthermore, in mouse AD models with controlled scratching, we find that the hydrogel alleviates AD symptoms, rebuilds the skin barrier, and inhibits inflammation. These results suggest that the hydrogel integrating reactive oxygen species scavenging and FAK inhibition could serve as a promising skin dressing for synergistic AD treatment.