Abstract
Novel biomaterials based on hydrophilic polycaprolactone and polyurethane (Tecophilic®) nanofibers with an encapsulated 5,10,5,20-tetraphenylporphyrin photosensitizer were prepared by electrospinning. The doped nanofiber textiles efficiently photo-generate O2(1Δg), which oxidize external chemical and biological substrates/targets. Strong photo-virucidal effects toward non-enveloped polyomaviruses and enveloped baculoviruses were observed on the surface of these textiles. The photo-virucidal effect was confirmed by a decrease in virus infectivity. In contrast, no virucidal effect was detected in the absence of light and/or the encapsulated photosensitizer.
Highlights
The continuing world-wide increase in drug resistance among many classes of pathogenic microbes has created a need for new antibiotic, antiviral and anti-parasitic therapies
The photodynamic effect is due to the oxidative damage caused to biological materials by reactive forms of oxygen, predominantly singlet oxygen, O2(1Dg), that are generated by photosensitized reactions [5,6,7]
The structure of the nanofiber materials was visualized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) (Fig. 1)
Summary
The continuing world-wide increase in drug resistance among many classes of pathogenic microbes has created a need for new antibiotic, antiviral and anti-parasitic therapies. Polymeric nanofiber materials, which are commonly prepared from polymer solutions via electrospinning, consist of fibers with diameters in the range of a few nanometers to a few microns [8,9,10]. Recent studies have described the photobactericidal properties of polyurethane, polystyrene and polycaprolactone nanofiber materials loaded with porphyrinoid photosensitizers [16,17,18]. These nanofibers generate O2(1Dg) and are promising materials for use in the preparation of self-disinfecting wound dressings or filters for water treatment. In contrast to standard anti-bacterial agents, for which continuous release from matrices can lead to diminishing effectiveness over time, these nanofiber materials use atmospheric oxygen and are effective for longer time periods
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