Infection Resistant Surface Coatings by Polymer Brushes: Strategies to Construct and Applications

Abstract

Bacteria-assisted infections on biomaterials used inside a body as an implant/device are one of the major threats to human health. Microbial-resistant coatings on biomaterials can potentially be considered to mitigate the biomaterial-associated infections. Usually biomaterials with leachable antimicrobial coatings, though economically attractive, provide only short-term protection of the surface against bacteria. Therefore, a stable, nonfouling or bactericidal, and biocompatible polymeric coating is highly desirable. In this regard, polymer brushes, defined as polymer chains tethered to a surface by one end, with suitable antiinfective functionality, represent a useful class of stable coatings which are covalently connected to the underlying surface, thus prolonging the infection resistance of the coated surface. Surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization (SI-ATRP) is a versatile technique for the generation of polymeric brushes via "grafting from" way. In this review, we have attempted to give a brief overview about the recent developments of surface coatings by infection-resistant polymer brushes synthesized via SI-ATRP and their applications in the biomedical field. On the basis of their charges, these anti-infective brushes can be classified into five different categories such as neutral, cationic, anionic, zwitterionic, and mixed brushes. The working mechanism of each type of brush in repelling (nonfouling/bacteriostatic) and/or killing (bactericidal) the bacteria has also been discussed. A brief summary of their future scope is also highlighted.

Photoinduced micropatterning on biodegradable aliphatic polyester surfaces for anchoring dual brushes and its application in bacteria and cell patterning

“…This may be attributed to the hydrated zwitterionic head group present in the polyDMAPS brush as revealed from its higher water uptake data (19.9%) as compared to the polyPEGMA brush (11.4%). [78][79][80][81] As expected, no antiadherent/antibacterial activity was observed for the P2 and P1 surface suggesting the role of hydrophilic brushes in repelling bacterial cells.…”

“Clickable” Polymer Brush Interfaces: Tailoring Monovalent to Multivalent Ligand Display for Protein Immobilization and Sensing

“…The past decade has witnessed the evolution of polymeric surface coatings from a simple protection barrier to a functional interface, which imparts functional attributes to the material through specific interactions and communication with its environment. In particular, polymeric coatings bearing bioactive ligands ranging from small molecules to biomacromolecules play a critical role in realizing various diagnostic and biosensing platforms. − For such applications, a polymeric coating that is stable in an aqueous environment, inherently anti-biofouling, and can be easily conjugated with biological probes is often desirable. In light of the demand for workability under aqueous conditions, as a general approach, hydrophilic polymers are chemically tethered onto the underlying inorganic substrate through either a “graft-to” or “graft-from” approach.…”

The Architecture of Oligonucleotide‐Polycationic Brush Complexes – A Neutron Reflectometry Study

“…Polymer brushes are increasingly being utilized for a broad range of biomedical applications, [1][2][3][4][5] ranging from tissue engineering and implant coatings, to cell patterning for cell-based assay development, or to regulate physico-chemical properties and the biofunctionalisation of biosensors. To a large extent, an essential theories, and coarse grain molecular dynamics simulations predicting an impact of the brush thickness, grafting density, solvation, and chemistry (impacting brush-macromolecule interactions) on the infiltration of brushes by proteins, particles, and polyelectrolytes.…”

“…Polymer brushes are increasingly being utilized for a broad range of biomedical applications, [ 1–5 ] ranging from tissue engineering and implant coatings, to cell patterning for cell‐based assay development, or to regulate physico‐chemical properties and the biofunctionalisation of biosensors. To a large extent, an essential brush property shared by most of these applications is the ability to regulate protein interactions and diffusion to substrates from which brushes are tethered.…”