Surface coatings of materials by polysaccharide polymers are an acknowledged strategy to modulate interfacial biocompatibility. Polysaccharides from various algal species represent an attractive source of structurally diverse compounds that have found application in the biomedical field. Furcellaran obtained from the red algae Furcellaria lumbricalis is a potential candidate for biomedical applications due to its gelation properties and mechanical strength. In the present study, immobilization of furcellaran onto polyethylene terephthalate surfaces by a multistep approach was studied. In this approach, N-allylmethylamine was grafted onto a functionalized polyethylene terephthalate (PET) surface via air plasma treatment. Furcellaran, as a bioactive agent, was anchored on such substrates. Surface characteristics were measured by means of contact angle measurements, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Subsequently, samples were subjected to selected cell interaction assays, such as antibacterial activity, anticoagulant activity, fibroblasts and stem cell cytocompatibility, to investigate the Furcellaran potential in biomedical applications. Based on these results, furcellaran-coated PET films showed significantly improved embryonic stem cell (ESC) proliferation compared to the initial untreated material.
Bio-artificial polymeric systems are a new class of polymeric constituents based on blends of synthetic and natural polymers, designed with the purpose of producing new materials that exhibit enhanced properties with respect to the individual components. In this frame, a combination of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and chitosan, blended with a widely used antibiotic, sodium ampicillin, has been developed showing a moderate behavior in terms of antibacterial properties. Thus, aqueous solutions of PVA at 1 wt.% were mixed with acid solutions of chitosan at 1 wt.%, followed by adding ampicillin ranging from 0.3 to 1.0 wt.% related to the total amount of the polymers. The prepared bio-artificial polymeric system was characterized by FTIR, SEM, DSC, contact angle measurements, antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli and antibiotic release studies. The statistical significance of the antibacterial activity was determined using a multifactorial analysis of variance with ρ < 0.05 (ANOVA). The characterization techniques did not show alterations in the ampicillin structure and the interactions with polymers were limited to intermolecular forces. Therefore, the antibiotic was efficiently released from the matrix and its antibacterial activity was preserved. The system disclosed moderate antibacterial activity against bacterial strains without adding a high antibiotic concentration. The findings of this study suggest that the system may be effective against healthcare-associated infections, a promising view in the design of novel antimicrobial biomaterials potentially suitable for tissue engineering applications.
- MeSH
- ampicilin * chemie farmakologie MeSH
- antibakteriální látky * chemická syntéza chemie farmakologie MeSH
- chitosan * chemie farmakologie MeSH
- Escherichia coli růst a vývoj MeSH
- polyvinylalkohol * chemie farmakologie MeSH
- Staphylococcus aureus růst a vývoj MeSH
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
