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Surpassing nature: rational design of sterile-surface materials
Kim Lewis1, Alexander M Klibanov
1Department of Biology, Northeastern University, 360 Huntington Ave, Boston, MA 02115, USA. k.lewis@neu.edu
Abstract:
The rise of multidrug-resistant pathogens and recalcitrance of biofilm infections present a formidable challenge to combating infectious diseases. There are numerous disinfectants and antiseptics for treating materials in hospitals and community settings, and devices such as catheters impregnated with anti-infectives have been introduced into practice. However, there are many limitations of materials impregnated with a leaching antibacterial agent. Recently, non-leaching, permanent, sterile-surface materials have been developed in which one end of a long-chained hydrophobic polycation containing antimicrobial monomers is attached covalently to the surface of a material, for example, cotton or plastic. The polymeric chain allows the antimicrobial moieties to permeate into, and kill, the cells of the pathogen. These sterile-surface materials kill both air- and waterborne pathogens and are not susceptible to existing resistance mechanisms.
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