Functionalized Antimicrobial Nanofibers: Design Criteria and Recent Advances

Abstract

The rise of antibiotic resistance has become a major threat to human health and it is spreading globally. It can cause common infectious diseases to be difficult to treat and leads to higher medical costs and increased mortality. Hence, multifunctional polymeric nanofibers with distinctive structures and unique physiochemical properties have emerged as a neo-tool to target biofilm and overcome deadly bacterial infections. This review emphasizes electrospun nanofibers’ design criteria and properties that can be utilized to enhance their therapeutic activity for antimicrobial therapy. Also, we present recent progress in designing the surface functionalization of antimicrobial nanofibers with non-antibiotic agents for effective antibacterial therapy. Lastly, we discuss the future trends and remaining challenges for polymeric nanofibers.

Design of Asymmetric Nanofibers-Membranes Based on Polyvinyl Alcohol and Wool-Keratin for Wound Healing Applications

“…In comparison with other epithelial components (i.e., gelatin, elastin, collagen, and sericin), extracted-keratin is a biodegradable and water-soluble protein with a cytocompatibility and non-immunogenic response due to their peculiar cell-binding motifs (i.e., arginine-glycine-aspartic acid) [57,58]. Recent studies confirmed the advantages of using keratin electrospun-NFs for wound healing applications because of their high porosity and capacity to absorb exudates [59]. Different content of KS and thermal treatments enables modifying the wettability, the microscopic properties of NFs, and the secondary structure content of KS, which confer different properties in terms of flexibility and chain elasticity, able to slightly influence cell response in vitro, in agreement with previous studies [60].…”

Preparation, Physicochemical Assessment and the Antimicrobial Action of Hydroxyapatite–Gelatin/Curcumin Nanofibrous Composites as a Dental Biomaterial

“…Some nanomaterials are also able to mix with the bacterial cell wall to release their antimicrobial material into the cytoplasm [ 46 , 53 ]. Antimicrobial nanofibers can also pass through the bacteria pores due to their very small diameter and can then disrupt the bacteria’s different functions [ 54 , 55 ].…”

Advances in Nanostructures for Antimicrobial Therapy

“…The surface charge and surface wettability and can be considerably enhanced by incorporation of antimicrobial agents such as metal/metal oxide NPs, carbon nanomaterials, AMPs or natural plant or herbal extracts. The functionalization of electrospun nanofibers with antimicrobial agents can be utilized to fight bacterial infections and resistance and is a promising strategy to combat bacterial infection and resistance [ 188 , 189 , 190 , 191 ]. The ethylcellulose/gum tragacanth (85:15) electrospun nanofibrous mats with incorporated honey (5–20 wt%) were evaluated as an effective wound covering biomaterials characterized with antibacterial properties, improved antioxidant activity, good mechanical properties and degradation ability features, and showed proper cell growth, attachment, and proliferation against NIH-3 T3 fibroblast cells [ 192 ].…”