A novel substance has been developed by UAB and ICN2 researchers to combat the spread of diseases, pathogens, and antibiotic resistance. It can be used as a coating to protect healthcare fabrics and offers a practical substitute for frequently used materials including paper, cotton, surgical masks, and commercial plasters. It was inspired by the compounds excreted by mussels to stick to rocks. The Chemical Engineering Journal published the research.
Researchers from the ICN2 (Salvio Suárez-García and Daniel Ruiz-Molina) and the UAB (Professor Víctor J. Yuste from the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and the Institute of Neuroscience) collaborated to produce this work.
José Bolaños-Cardet, a PhD candidate in the UAB Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, is the study’s first author.
A growing global hazard to public health, antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a result of the misuse of antibiotics. AMR is the result of bacteria changing over time, so they are resistant to medications, antibiotics, and other associated antimicrobial therapies. This increases the danger of pathogen spread, serious disease, and death as well as making illnesses more difficult to cure. Indeed, according to reports from the United Nations (UN) and World Health Organization (WHO), antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a serious global health problem that will likely surpass cancer as the primary cause of death worldwide by the year 2050.
In this situation, reducing pathogen spread and preventing infections requires the development of new and more effective antibacterial materials. According to a news release from UAB, managing bacterial populations in healthcare settings like hospitals and other units is important for preventing so-called nosocomial infections, which are mostly caused by bacterial colonization on biomedical surfaces.
These days, infections of this kind are the sixth greatest cause of death in developed nations, and they are far more common in underdeveloped nations. They particularly affect patients who are immunocompromised, require intense care (such as those who have burns), or have chronic illnesses like diabetes.
Fabrics are a vital component of patient care, even though they are one of the many materials that can spread bacterial populations. These materials include medical curtains, bed sheets, pillowcases, bandages, gloves, and clothing worn by physicians, surgeons, and nurses, all of which come into direct contact with sutures and wounds. Because of all these factors, the field of research on antibacterial coatings for medical fabrics has exploded.
A family of biocompatible and bioinspired coatings has been developed by researchers from the UAB Institute for Neuroscience (INc-UAB), the Catalan Institute for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2), and the UAB Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. These coatings are created by the co-polymerization of catechol derivatives and amino-terminal ligands.
Based on this, they have shown that the utilization of these mussel-inspired coatings as efficient antibacterial materials, based on their capacity to change chemically over time in the presence of air and humid atmospheres, encourages the continued generation of Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS). The manufacturing process produces an overabundance of surface-free amino groups that cause the rupture of pathogen membranes in addition to ROS.
Professor Victor Yuste of UAB and researcher Salvio Suárez of ICN2 explained that “one of the main components found in the coatings (catechol and polyphenol derivatives) is found in the strands secreted by mussels, which are responsible for their adhesion to rocks under extreme conditions, under saline water.” “The coatings we have created are highly resistant to various environmental conditions like humidity or the presence of fluids, and they can adhere to almost any type of surface because they are inspired by this organism.” Furthermore, natural components contribute to the production of materials that are more biodegradable, biocompatible, and have lower levels of antimicrobial resistance than conventional bactericidal systems, which eventually develop resistance and quickly lose their efficacy.
Paper, cotton, surgical masks, and commercial plasters are examples of frequently used hygienic products that have intrinsic multi-pathway antibacterial activity and quick reactions against a wide range of microorganisms. This included pathogens thought to be the main cause of many modern diseases, especially those contracted in healthcare institutions, as well as microbes that have evolved a resilience to harsh environmental conditions (like B. subtilis). These pathogens include multiresistant bacteria from Gram-positive (E. faecalis) and Gram-negative (E. coli and P. aeruginosa) environments (S. aureus, methicillin-resistant S. aureus – MRSA). Additionally, these compounds have shown effectiveness against fungus including Candida albicans and Candida auris.
Furthermore, its effective use has been shown in moist conditions, such as those prevalent in hospitals, where respiratory droplets and/or other biofluids are present, lowering the danger of transmission by indirect contact. A direct contact-killing mechanism, in which the pathogen is first attracted to the coating by catechol molecules and other polyphenol derivatives, was suggested as the cause of this antibacterial activity. After that, a variety of antibacterial pathways are triggered, with a primary emphasis on the continuous production of ROS at biosafety levels and electrostatic interactions with surface-exposed protic amino groups. These antibacterial processes caused irreversible harm to the microorganisms by inducing a quick (180 minutes for bacteria and 24 hours for fungi) and effective (above 99%) response against infections.
According to the study, these novel coatings are made with inexpensive materials and environmentally friendly chemistry-based processes in a straightforward, one-step synthesis process under mild conditions. Additionally, the bio-inspired coatings’ simplicity is enhanced by the polyphenolic character of their compositions and the lack of extraneous antimicrobial agents, which prevent the production of AMR and its harmful effects on host cells and the environment. It’s important to note that several characteristics, including color, thickness, and stickiness, were adjusted to provide a flexible solution for the various requirements of the finished material application. Since the developed bio-inspired coatings are a workable substitute for current antibacterial materials, they have generally shown a great deal of promise for future translation into clinics.
