Kill&Repel Coatings: The Marriage of Antifouling and Bactericidal Properties to Mitigate and Treat Wound Infections

Abstract

Wound infections originate when exogenous or endogenous bacterial pathogens can circumvent the barrier of the wound dressing and invade the wound bed. Bacterial colonization causes inflammation, stalls the healing process, and carries the risk of dissemination to other tissues. In addition, current antimicrobial dressings fail to resolve an infection once it has been established because debris of the killed bacteria rapidly accumulates on their surface and hampers the antimicrobial action. Faced with this challenge, hybrid synthetic‐natural water‐soluble macromolecules are designed that self‐assemble onto the surface of dressings to generate an antifouling brush functionalized with endolysin, a bactericidal enzyme that poses no harm for eukaryotic cells. The simultaneous action of the brush and the enzyme not only prevents the colonization of the dressing, but also enables the coating to kill planktonic bacteria with even higher efficiency than the free enzyme. Remarkably, the Kill&Repel coating could completely eradicate bacteria in a simulated infection without allowing the adhesion of residues on the surface. Thus, this strategy opens a revolutionary approach for protecting and treating an infected wound in a safer and more efficient manner.

Zwitterionic Conducting Polymers: From Molecular Design, Surface Modification, and Interfacial Phenomenon to Biomedical Applications

“…The redox states of CPs were controlled by applying different surface potentials, accompanied by surrounding ions moving in and out of the CPs to maintain their electrostatic neutrality . Therefore, the manipulation of adsorbed molecules or microorganisms on the surface can be achieved with switchable redox states of the CP backbones. , Recently, the dual-functional or so-called “smart” antibacterial surfaces that combine killing and releasing functions with antifouling properties have attracted considerable interest. − One of the mechanisms behind these surfaces is the conformational change of zwitterionic polymer brushes by external stimulation, such as wettability or bias. , Another type of dual-functional CP surface is based on its switchable redox states. PEDOT and its derivatives are promising candidates as antibacterial materials for their intrinsically positively charged main chains and capability of carrying ions. , Cao et al demonstrated an electroactive PSBEDOT surface with dual-function antibacterial performance.…”

Brush‐Like Interface on Surface‐Attached Hydrogels Repels Proteins and Bacteria

“…The performance of the hydrogel coatings was at the same level as the best polymer brushes based on poly(HPMA) (below LOD of 0.3 ng cm −2 ), [14] poly(carboxybetaine)s (below LOD of 0.3 ng cm −2 ), [15,20,14,41] and of poly(oligoethylene glycol methacrylate) (20 ng cm −2 ). [14] The excellent performance of the presented surface-attached hydrogel coatings stems from the simultaneous protection from the brush-like structure (entropic shielding) and formation of a water barrier as discussed above.…”

Multifunctional fibrous wound dressings for refractory wound healing

“…Wound infections will be caused by the invasion of the bacteria during the process of wound repair, prolonging wound healing and even leading to severe complications, such as bacteremia and septicemia. 20,[44][45][46] Therefore, an ideal fibrous wound dressing should possess the capabilities of inhibiting the proliferation of bacteria or killing bacteria, named antibacterial fibrous wound dressing. 22 According to the classification of components, the antibacterial fibrous wound dressings include, but are not limited to, intrinsic antibacterial dressings, antibiotic-loaded dressings, inorganic antibacterial agent-incorporated dressings, biological extract-contained dressings, and photosensitizer (PS) or photothermal agent (PTA)-integrated dressings (Table 1).…”