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Updated: Feb 15, 2026

Polyelectrolyte Complex for Heparin Binding Domain Osteogenic Growth Factor Delivery
Published on: August 22, 2016
Targeting polyelectrolyte networks in purulent body fluids to modulate bactericidal properties of some antibiotics
Robert Bucki1, Bonita Durnaś2, Marzena Wątek2,3
1Department of Microbiological and Nanobiomedical Engineering, Medical University of Białystok, Białystok.
Abstract:
The response of the human immune system to most bacterial infections results in accumulation of neutrophils at infection sites that release a significant quantity of DNA and F-actin. Both are negatively charged polyelectrolytes that can interact with positively charged host defense molecules such as cathelicidin-delivered LL-37 peptide or other cationic antibiotic agents. Evaluation of the ability of bacterial outgrowth (using luminescence measurements or counting colony-forming units) to form a biofilm (quantified by crystal violet staining) and analysis of the structure of DNA/F-actin network by optical microscopy in human pus samples treated with different antibiotics in combination with plasma gelsolin, DNAse 1, and/or poly-aspartic acid revealed that bactericidal activity of most tested antibacterial agents increases in the presence of DNA/F-actin depolymerizing factors.
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