Introducing Mixed-Charge Copolymers As Wound Dressing Biomaterials

Abstract

Herein, a pseudozwitterionic structure bearing moieties with mixed positive and negative charges is introduced to develop a potential biomaterial for wound dressing applications. New mixed-charge matrices were prepared by copolymerization of the negatively charged 3-sulfopropyl methacrylate (SA) and positively charged [2-(methacryloyloxy)ethyl] trimethylammonium (TMA) onto expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE) membranes. The charge balance was effectively regulated through the control of the initial SA/TMA ratio. The focus was then laid on the assessment of a variety of essential properties of efficient wound dressings including, hydration property, resistance to fibrinogen adsorption, hemocompatibility, as well as resistance to fibroblast attachment and bacteria colonization. It was found that the pseudozwitterionic membranes, compared to those with charge bias in the poly(SA-co-TMA) structure, exhibited the best combination of major properties. Therefore, they were further tested for wound healing. Histological examination of mouse wound treated with the pseudozwitterionic membranes exhibited complete re-epithelialization and total formation of new connective tissues after 14 days, even leading to faster healing than using commercial dressing. Results presented in this work suggest that the mixed-charge copolymers with a perfect balance of positive and negative moieties represent the newest generation of biomaterials for wound dressings.

One simple and stable coating of mixed‐charge copolymers on poly(vinyl chloride) films to improve antifouling efficiency

“…The results (Table ) showed that all of the ξ potentials were close to zero; this suggested that almost no net electric charge was carried in the PSTG copolymers. This may have been due to the similar chemical reactivities of the TMA monomers and SA monomers in aqueous solution, as confirmed previously . Therefore, the charge‐bias variation of the PSTG copolymers could be controlled at a low level via the regulation of the feed ratio of the SA to TMA monomer at 1:1.…”

“…reported a systematic study of the effect of charge‐bias variations in poly(3‐sulfopropyl methacrylate‐ co ‐methacrylatoethyl trimethyl ammonium chloride) copolymers on the hemocompatibility in human blood plasma and concluded that pseudo‐zwitterionic copolymers of poly(3‐sulfopropyl methacrylate‐ co ‐methacrylatoethyl trimethyl ammonium chloride) with an overall charge neutrality had the best antifouling, anticoagulant, and antihemolytic activities. Jhong et al . further developed a wound dressing by growing pseudo‐zwitterionic brushes onto polytetrafluoroethylene membranes and investigated the role of the membrane surface charge on the essential wound dressing properties for wound healing.…”

Challenges and Advances in Hemodialysis Membranes

“…Pseudo-zwitterionic materials (or mixed charged polymers), as newer classes of biomedical surface modifiers, are enhanced semi-ZW structures with positively dual charged structures that are not affected by other chemical functional groups due to higher stability. Accordingly, they have been introduced as better candidates for improving hemodialysis membranes by surface immobilization or forming hydrogels [68][69][70]. Table 1 offers some of the most recent efforts focused on zwitterionization of membrane surfaces.…”

A zwitterionic interpenetrating network for improving the blood compatibility of polypropylene membranes applied to leukodepletion

“…Whole blood was either fractionated by centrifugation to obtain red blood cells concentrate, white blood cell concentrates or platelet-rich plasma, or used as is in blood adhesion tests. The method for blood fractionation as performed in this study is published elsewhere [39]. 0.8 mL Of concentrate of interest or of whole blood was incubated at 37°C for 2 h with membrane samples (diameter: 1 cm) positioned in a well-plate placed in an incubator.…”