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Damaged skin cannot prevent harmful bacteria from invading tissues, causing infected wounds and even serious tissue damage. Traditional treatments can not only kill pathogenic bacteria, but also suppress the growth of beneficial bacteria, thus destroying the balance of the damaged skin microbial ecosystem. Here, a living bacterial hydrogel scaffold is reported that accelerates infected wound healing through beneficial bacteria secreting antibacterial substances. Lactobacillus reuteri, a common probiotic, is encapsulated in hydrogel microspheres by emulsion polymerization and further immobilized in a hydrogel network by covalent cross-linking of methacrylate-modified hyaluronic acid. Owing to light-initiated crosslinking, the hydrogel dressing can be generated in situ at the wound site. This hydrogel scaffold not only protects bacteria from immune system attack, but also prevents bacteria from escaping into the local environment, thus avoiding potential threats. Both in vitro and in vivo experiments show that it has excellent ability against harmful bacteria and anti-inflammatory capabilities, promoting infected wound closure and new tissue regeneration. This work may open up new avenues for the application of living bacteria in the clinical management of infected wounds., (© 2021 The Authors. Advanced Science published by Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

• The hydrogel can kill bacteria by sustainably releasing Ag+ with its degradation. • It alleviates the host inflammatory response mediated bystander damage. • The designed hydrogel are ideal for anti-CXCL1 delivery. • It combines antibacterial and immunotherapy in infectious endophthalmitis. • This work may provide a new idea to treat endophthalmitis in clinical practice. Bacterial endophthalmitis is a serious ocular infection and frequently results in vision loss or even blindness. Most of the present treatment methods are mainly embodied in strengthening the bactericidal effect, whereas the bacteria induced vigorous host immune response often leads to irreversible damage to eye tissue. Herein, we report an injectable hydrogel to treat endophthalmitis by killing invading bacteria and regulating ocular immunity. The designed hydrogel was formed by dynamic coordination crosslinking of sulfhydryl modified gelatin and silver ion while embedding the anti-CXCL1 antibody evenly. The injectable hydrogel can not only kill bacteria by releasing silver ions with its degradation, but also alleviate the bacteria-triggered excessive immune response via releasing anti-CXCL1 antibody to neutralize chemokine CXCL1, thus avoiding the host inflammatory response mediated bystander damage. Both in vitro and in vivo experiments showed that it has excellent ability against bacteria and immunomodulatory performance, preserving more integral retinal architecture and promoting visual recovery. This work may open up new avenues for combining antibacterial and immunotherapy in infectious endophthalmitis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]