Department of Biology and Biological Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology, Kemivägen 10, 41296, Göteborg, Sweden.
Department of Physics, Chalmers University of Technology, Kemivägen 10, 41296, Göteborg, Sweden.
Sci Rep. 2021 May 11;11(1):9956. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-89452-5.
Protecting surfaces from bacterial colonization and biofilm development is an important challenge for the medical sector, particularly when it comes to biomedical devices and implants that spend longer periods in contact with the human body. A particularly difficult challenge is ensuring long-term protection, which is usually attempted by ensuring sustained release of antibacterial compounds loaded onto various coatings. Graphene have a considerable potential to reversibly interact water insoluble molecules, which makes them promising cargo systems for sustained release of such compounds. In this study, we developed graphene coatings that act as carriers capable of sustained release of usnic acid (UA), and hence enable long-term protection of surfaces against colonization by bacterial pathogens Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis. Our coatings exhibited several features that made them particularly effective for antibiofilm protection: (i) UA was successfully integrated with the graphene material, (ii) a steady release of UA was documented, (iii) steady UA release ensured strong inhibition of bacterial biofilm formation. Interestingly, even after the initial burst release of UA, the second phase of steady release was sufficient to block bacterial colonization. Based on these results, we propose that graphene coatings loaded with UA can serve as effective antibiofilm protection of biomedical surfaces.
防止表面细菌定植和生物膜形成是医疗领域面临的一项重要挑战，特别是对于那些与人体接触时间更长的生物医学设备和植入物。确保长期保护是一个特别困难的挑战，通常通过确保加载到各种涂层上的抗菌化合物的持续释放来实现。石墨烯具有与不溶于水的分子可逆相互作用的巨大潜力，这使它们成为持续释放此类化合物的有前途的载体系统。在这项研究中，我们开发了石墨烯涂层，作为载体能够持续释放地衣酸 (UA)，从而能够长期保护表面免受细菌病原体金黄色葡萄球菌和表皮葡萄球菌的定植。我们的涂层表现出了一些使其特别有效的抗生物膜保护的特征：(i) UA 成功地与石墨烯材料结合，(ii) 记录到 UA 的稳定释放，(iii) UA 的稳定释放确保了对细菌生物膜形成的强烈抑制。有趣的是，即使在 UA 的初始突释释放之后，第二阶段的稳定释放也足以阻止细菌定植。基于这些结果，我们提出了负载 UA 的石墨烯涂层可以作为生物医学表面的有效抗生物膜保护。
