Decorating Nanostructured Surfaces with Antimicrobial Peptides to Efficiently Fight Bacteria

Abstract

With conventional antibiotic therapies being increasingly ineffective, bacterial infections with subsequent biofilm formation represent a global threat to human health. Here, an active and a passive strategy based on polymeric micelles were combined to fight bacterial growth. The passive strategy involved covalent immobilization of polymeric micelles through Michael addition between exposed maleimide and thiol functionalized surfaces. Compared to the bare surface, micelle-decorated surfaces showed reduced adherence and survival of bacteria. To extend this passive defense against bacteria with an active strategy, the immobilized micelles were equipped with the antimicrobial peptide KYE28 (KYEI­TTIH­NLFR­KLTH­RLFR­RNFG­YTLR). The peptide interacted nonspecifically with the immobilized micelles where it retained its antimicrobial property. The successful surface decoration with KYE28 was demonstrated by a combination of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring. The initial antimicrobial activity of the nanostructured surfaces against Escherichia coli was found to be increased by the presence of KYE28. The combination of the active and passive strategy represents a straightforward modular approach that can easily be adapted, for example, by exchanging the antimicrobial peptide to optimize potency against challenging bacterial strains, and/or to simultaneously achieve antimicrobial and anti-infection properties.

Pristine and Antibiotic-Loaded Nanosheets/Nanoneedles-Based Boron Nitride Films as a Promising Platform to Suppress Bacterial and Fungal Infections

“…The antibacterial and antifungal activities were reported for various types of surfaces: nanostructured, − doped with bactericidal elements, ,, decorated with bactericidal metal nanoparticles, ,,, grafted, , or loaded ,, with different therapeutic agents. To increase the antibacterial and antifungal efficacy against various types of pathogens and to provide long-term defense, the combinations of different approaches were utilized simultaneously: (i) bactericidal nanoparticles and antibiotics, , (ii) nanostructured surface and bactericidal nanoparticles, and (iii) nanostructured surface and antimicrobial agents . Note, however, that the comparison of different infection suppression mechanisms is difficult due to the simultaneous contribution of many factors that are not easy to separate, e.g., existence of bacterial adhesion barrier, direct bacteria contact with nanostructured surface features or surface-bound nanoparticles, release of bactericidal ions and/or therapeutic agents, generation of ROS, and bacteria–surface microgalvanic interaction.…”

Antibacterial and Antiviral Functional Materials: Chemistry and Biological Activity toward Tackling COVID-19-like Pandemics

“…Rigo et al used an active and a passive approach with and without, respectively, attaching AMP KYE28 (KYEITTIHNLFRKLTRLFRRNFYTLR) on a poly(2-methyl-2-oxazoline) (PMOXA) and poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) polymeric micelle. 244 KYE28 is found in human heparin cofactor II and shows bactericidal action against the cell membrane. The WCA also increased to 78° with KYE28 addition as compared to 63° for micelle-immobilized surfaces.…”

From spherical compartments to polymer films: exploiting vesicle fusion to generate solid supported thin polymer membranes

“…This is an established method to determine film thickness in the nm range based on the correlation between the refractive index of a material (η) and its thickness. 61,62 We measured the thickness of gold-coated solid supports before and after polymersome attachment (Fig. S7 †), and after subjecting the support with attached polymersomes to an osmotic shock (Fig.…”