Dahan Shahar, Aibinder Polina, Khalfin Boris, Moran-Gilad Jacob, Rapaport Hanna
Avram and Stella Goldstein-Goren Department of Biotechnology Engineering, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, P.O.B. 653, Beer-Sheva8410501, Israel.
Department of Health Policy and Management, School of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, P.O.B. 653, Beer-Sheva8410501, Israel.
ACS Biomater Sci Eng. 2023 Jan 9;9(1):352-362. doi: 10.1021/acsbiomaterials.2c01331. Epub 2022 Dec 15.
The growing resistance of pathogenic bacteria to conventional antibiotics promotes the development of new antimicrobial agents, including peptides. Hydrogels composed of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) may be applied as topical treatments for skin infection and wound regeneration. The unique antimicrobial and ultrashort-peptide FKF (Phe-Lys-Phe) was recently demonstrated to form bactericidal hydrogels. Here, we sought to improve the cyto-biocompatibility of FKF by combining FKF hydrogels with gelatin. Homogeneous hybrid hydrogels of FKF:gelatin were developed based on a series of self-assembly steps that involved mixing solutions of the two components with no covalent cross-linkers. The hydrogels were characterized for their structural features, dissolution, cyto-biocompatibility, and antibacterial properties. These hybrid hydrogels first release the antibacterial FKF assemblies, leaving the gelatinous fraction of the hydrogel to serve as a scaffold for tissue regeneration. Sponges of these hybrid hydrogels, obtained by lyophilization and rehydrated prior to application, exhibited enhanced antimicrobial activity compared to the hydrogels' formulations.
病原菌对传统抗生素的耐药性不断增强，推动了包括肽类在内的新型抗菌剂的开发。由抗菌肽（AMPs）组成的水凝胶可作为皮肤感染和伤口再生的局部治疗方法。最近证明，独特的抗菌超短肽FKF（苯丙氨酸-赖氨酸-苯丙氨酸）可形成杀菌水凝胶。在此，我们试图通过将FKF水凝胶与明胶结合来提高FKF的细胞生物相容性。基于一系列自组装步骤，开发了FKF:明胶的均匀混合水凝胶，该步骤包括在不使用共价交联剂的情况下混合两种成分的溶液。对水凝胶的结构特征、溶解性、细胞生物相容性和抗菌性能进行了表征。这些混合水凝胶首先释放抗菌FKF组装体，留下水凝胶的凝胶部分作为组织再生的支架。通过冻干获得并在应用前重新水化的这些混合水凝胶海绵，与水凝胶配方相比，表现出增强的抗菌活性。
