Zwitterionic carboxybetaine polymer surfaces and their resistance to long-term biofilm formation

Abstract

In this work, we report a systematic study of zwitterionic poly(carboxybetaine methacrylate) (pCBMA) grafted from glass surfaces via atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) for their resistance to long-term bacterial biofilm formation. Results show that pCBMA-grafted surfaces are highly resistant to nonspecific protein adsorption (fibrinogen and undiluted blood plasma) at 25, 30 and 37 °C. Long-term (over 24 h) colonization of two bacterial strains (Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 and Pseudomonas putida strain 239) on pCBMA surface was studied using a parallel flow cell at 25, 30 and 37 °C. Uncoated glass cover slips were chosen as the positive reference. Results show that pCBMA coatings reduced long-term biofilm formation of P. aeruginosa up to 240 h by 95% at 25 °C and for 64 h by 93% at 37 °C, and suppressed P. putida biofilm accumulation up to 192 h by 95% at 30 °C, with respect to the glass reference. The ability of pCBMA coatings to resist non-specific protein adsorption and significantly retard bacterial biofilm formation makes it a very promising material for biomedical and industrial applications.

Combinatorial discovery of polymers resistant to bacterial attachment

“…Comparison with the performance of our hits to these literature reports is difficult as experimental methodologies vary widely. Attachment of P. aeruginosa (PA01) after 3 h incubation on a poly(sulfobetaine methacrylate)-grafted surface has been reported to be lower by 25-fold compared to that on glass 19 , and in an incubation time closer to ours, a poly(carboxybetaine methacrylate)-grafted surface had 11-fold lower attachment of P. aeruginosa after 96-h bacterial exposure compared to glass 18 .…”

“…There are several other different strategies that can be found in the literature to reduce bacterial attachment to surfaces that are not yet commercially available; for example, zwitterionic coatings function by preventing attachment 18,19 . Comparison with the performance of our hits to these literature reports is difficult as experimental methodologies vary widely.…”

“…These approaches aim to kill bacterial cells that attach to a material, but we believe that greater efficacy in preventing biofilm formation might be achieved by the development of new materials that are inherently resistant to biofilm formation 16 . Previous attempts to use an anti-attachment strategy include poly(ethylene glycol) brushes 17 and zwitterionic polymers 18,19 . An important problem that has restricted the development of materials resistant to bacterial attachment and growth is the poor understanding of the interactions that bacteria make with surfaces, which is required for ab initio materials design.…”

Preventing bacterial adhesion on scaffolds for bone tissue engineering

“…(1) Zwitterionization of metal substrates Zwiterionic polymers such poly(sulfobetaine methacrylate) (pSBMA) and poly(carboxybetaine methacrylate) (pCBMA), possessing mixed positively and negatively charged functional groups within the same polymer chain and total neutral charge, exhibit ultralow fouling capabilities, able to inhibit nonspecific protein adsorption, bacterial adhesion and biofilm formation [28][29][30][31][32] . The most widely used method to graft zwitterionic polymers to surfaces is the surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization (SI-ATRP) [33] .…”

Bases moleculares de la infección asociada a implantes ortopédicos

“…El uso de polímeros zwitteriónicos como superficie de recubrimiento reduce la formación de la biopelícula a largo plazo entre 93-95% (192 a 240 h de cultivo). Esto estaría explicado, ya que este polímero logra evitar en 100% la adsorción de proteínas no específicas en la superficie del implante 69 . El recubrimiento con péptidos antimicrobianos (AMPs o antimicrobial peptides) es una alternativa a los antimicrobianos convencionales por su amplio espectro y baja estimulación de resistencia, además de poder modular la respuesta inmune del hospedero.…”