Abstract

Gelatin-based tissue adhesives have significant potential as wound dressings in biomedical applications. However, these adhesives often require modifications or chemical cross-linking to ensure adequate tissue adhesion and mechanical strength, which inevitably increases production complexity and costs. Notably, few studies have reported the use of single-component, unmodified gelatin to prepare wound dressings. In this study, we successfully developed a thermosensitive hydrogel adhesive made from ostrich tendon gelatin (OG), which exhibited a high gel-sol transition temperature of 43.1 °C. In the hydrogen bond-breaking test and the analysis of protein modeling and protein-protein docking, hydrogen bonding was confirmed as a primary factor influencing the structural characteristics of OG adhesive. When compared to other unmodified single-component gelatin-based adhesives, OG adhesive displayed superior mechanical properties. Under physiological temperature, OG adhesive maintained stable gel state, with tissue adhesion force (3.06 ± 0.56 N) significantly surpassing that of commercially available porcine skin gelatin-based adhesive (1.82 ± 0.25 N). Furthermore, OG adhesive demonstrated satisfactory biocompatibility, biodegradability, and hemostatic capabilities. In mouse models of skin scratch and wound healing, OG adhesive showed high occlusivity and the ability to promote wound healing. These results suggest that the developed OG-based hot-melt type adhesive could serve as a viable biomaterial for wound care applications.