J. Mater. Sci. Technol. ›› 2020, Vol. 59: 14-25.DOI: 10.1016/j.jmst.2020.05.017

• Research Article • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Electrostatic assembly functionalization of poly (γ-glutamic acid) for biomedical antibacterial applications

Xiaodan Wanga,b, Hengchong Shia, Haoyu Tangc, Huan Yua,b, Qiuyan Yana, Huawei Yanga, Xu Zhanga, Shifang Luana,b,*()   

  1. a State Key Laboratory of Polymer Physics and Chemistry, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun 130022, China
    b University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China
    c Institute of Functional Nano & Soft Materials, Soochow University, Suzhou 215123, China
  • Received:2020-04-06 Revised:2020-04-30 Accepted:2020-04-30 Published:2020-12-15 Online:2020-12-18
  • Contact: Shifang Luan

Abstract:

Poly (γ-glutamic acid) (γ-PGA) has been found widespread applications in biomedical field because of its excellent water solubility, biocompatibility, and bioactivity. Herein, a water-insoluble γ-PGA antibacterial compound is facilely fabricated via one-pot electrostatic assembly of γ-PGA with cationic ethyl lauroyl arginate (ELA). The functionalized γ-PGA compound (γ-PGA-ELA) ethanol solution can facilely produce colorless and transparent coatings on various inorganic, metal, and polymeric substrates, especially for the lumen of slender catheters (length up to 2 m, and inner diameter down to 1 mm). The functionalized γ-PGA coating presents remarkable antibacterial efficacy in vitro and in vivo. In addition, the γ-PGA compound is used as antibacterial additives of polyolefin via melting extrusion, and the as-prepared antibacterial polyolefin demonstrates advantageous antibacterial efficacy. More importantly, the functionalized γ-PGA coating exhibit good hemocompatibility, low cytotoxicity, and satisfactory histocompatibility. The as-proposed γ-PGA compound has a great potential to serve as a safe and multifunctional antibacterial candidate to combat biomedical devices-related infections.

Key words: Functionalized poly (γ-glutamic acid) compound, Electrostatic assembly, Antibacterial coating, Antibacterial additive, Catheter-associated infections