Session: Biomaterials and Biointerfaces:

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a serious threat to the global public health. The enormous and irresponsible use of antibiotics has promoted the development of different antibiotic resistance mechanisms in bacteria, leading to an abruptly reduction on the efficacy of conventional antibiotic drugs. In the context of AMR threat, research initiatives have been focused on engineering new and more efficient antimicrobial agents that eliminate bacteria through non-specific mechanisms unlikely to promote the apparition of resistance.
Hybrid biopolymer-metal nanomaterials are gaining significant attention due to their wide antimicrobial spectrum and lower toxicity compared to the stand-alone metal-based counterparts. Some natural polymers possess inherent antibacterial activity and when used in the nanomaterials synthesis, they improve the stability and enhance the materials antimicrobial efficacy, mainly due to the improved interaction with bacterial membrane leading to membrane damage and bacterial death.
In this study, we modified the biopolymer hyaluronic acid (HA) with adipic acid dihydrazide (ADH), designing a dual functional biopolymer that interacts with metals to form safe to human cells stand-alone nanomaterials and self-assembled nanocoatings with improved antibacterial and antibiofilm activities. The amino-functionalized HA was able to reduce silver (Ag), obtaining stable hybrid biopolymer capped AgNPs that are active against Gram-positive S. aureus and Gram-negative E. coli, without affecting the human skin cell lines. Furthermore, the enhanced interaction between ADH-modified HA and metals (copper and cobalt) lead to the coordination-driven self-assembly of hybrid multi-layered coatings on silicone surface in layer-by-layer fashion. These materials demonstrated improved antifouling and antibacterial activities against medically relevant bacteria.

Tzanko Tzanov

Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya

Appearances