Abstract
Bacterial infection of biomaterials is a serious problem in the field of medical devices. It is urgently necessary to develop new biomaterials with bactericidal activity. Antimicrobial peptides and proteins (AMPs), alternative antibacterial agents, are expected to overcome the bacterial resistance. The aim of this study was to develop a new intelligent material in bone tissue engineering based on protamine-loaded hydroxyapatite (protamine/HAp) that uses AMPs rather than antibiotics. It was found that the adsorption of protamine to HAp followed the Langmuir adsorption model and was due to electrostatic and/or hydrophobic interactions. In vitro bacterial adhesion and growth on protamine/HAp was inhibited in a protamine dose-dependent manner. Adherent bacteria exhibited an aberrant morphology for high dosages of protamine/HAp, resulting in the formation of large aggregates and disintegration of the membrane. The released protamine from protamine/HAp also prevented the growth of planktonic bacteria in vitro. However, a high dosage of protamine from powders at loading concentrations over 1000 μg·mL−1 induced a cytotoxic effect in vitro, although those exhibited no apparent cytotoxicity in vivo. These data revealed that protamine/HAp (less than 1000 μg·mL−1) had both antimicrobial activity and biocompatibility and can be applied for bone substitutes in orthopedic fields.
Highlights
Implants have been used to improve loss of function, replace lost tissue, or optimize appearance
The zeta potential of the protamine/HAp powders increased with increasing the concentration of protamine (Figure 2a) and reached a plateau at over 1000 μg·mL−1 protamine
The surface of the protamine/HAp sample was examined by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS)
Summary
Implants have been used to improve loss of function, replace lost tissue, or optimize appearance. Mainly as HAp, have been used in the field of bone tissue engineering, though the low bioresorbability of sintered HAp resulted in the cause of implant-related infection. HAp is widely used as a column material in affinity chromatography for the separation of various proteins because of its ability to absorb proteins, amino acids and other substances [3,4,5]. This means that bacteria can prefer to adhere to the HAp surface and form biofilms. While antibiotics are still essential for the success of surgical procedures, the increase in bacterial resistance to conventional antibiotics has necessitated the development of alternative therapies
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