Abstract
Herein, we report the design of electrospun ultrathin fibers based on the combination of three different polymers polycaprolactone (PCL), polyethylene glycol (PEG), and gelatin methacryloyl (GelMA), and their potential bactericidal activity against three different bacteria Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa), and Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). We evaluated the morphology, chemical structure and wettability before and after UV photocrosslinking of the produced scaffolds. Results showed that the developed scaffolds presented hydrophilic properties after PEG and GelMA incorporation. Moreover, they were able to significantly reduce gram-positive, negative, and MRSA bacteria mainly after UV photocrosslinking (PCL:PEG:GelMa-UV). Furthermore, we performed a series of study for gaining a better mechanistic understanding of the scaffolds bactericidal activity through protein adsorption study and analysis of the reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels. Furthermore, the in vivo subcutaneous implantation performed in rats confirmed the biocompatibility of our designed scaffolds.
Highlights
Microbial infections are major challenges to the public health, and the burden is rapidly growing due to the increase of healthcare cost and antibiotic resistance, in particular with respect to wound healing [1]
S. aureus, P. aeruginosa, and Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) were acquired from the ATCC strain 12600
Afterwards, the samples were lightly rinsed with PBS (x2) to remove any nonadherent bacteria, the scaffolds were set into individual vials with PBS (1000 μL) vortexed to remove the strongly adherent bacteria during 15 min
Summary
Microbial infections are major challenges to the public health, and the burden is rapidly growing due to the increase of healthcare cost and antibiotic resistance, in particular with respect to wound healing [1]. The design of materials with the ability to significantly reduce the administration of antibiotics and avoid infections from highly antibioticresistant bacteria in the hospital environment are highly desirable In this context, degradable polymers with tunable mechanical, biological and chemical properties and ease of fabrication can be attractive for aforementioned applications [7]. We envision by merging three polymeric biomaterials (polycaprolactone (PCL), polyethylene glycol (PEG) and photocrosslinkable gelatin methacryloyl (GelMA)) for the generation of ultrathin electrospun fibers, bactericidal property can be obtained. These materials were selected based on their unique properties. This study has opened numerous perspectives to use a new bactericidal scaffolding system for a wide range of biomedical and tissue engineering applications
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