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Updated: Feb 2, 2026

Biomimetic Materials to Characterize Bacteria-host Interactions
Published on: November 16, 2015
The Role of Zwitterionic Materials in the Fight against Proteins and Bacteria
Montserrat Colilla1,2, Isabel Izquierdo-Barba3,4, María Vallet-Regí5,6
1Departamento de Química en Ciencias Farmacéuticas, Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Hospital 12 de Octubre i + 12, Plaza Ramón y Cajal s/n, 28040 Madrid, Spain. mcolilla@ucm.es.
Abstract:
Zwitterionization of biomaterials has been heightened to a potent tool to develop biocompatible materials that are able to inhibit bacterial and non-specific proteins adhesion. This constitutes a major progress in the biomedical field. This manuscript overviews the main functionalization strategies that have been reported up to date to design and develop these advanced biomaterials. On this regard, the recent research efforts that were dedicated to provide their surface of zwitterionic nature are summarized by classifying biomaterials in two main groups. First, we centre on biomaterials in clinical use, concretely bioceramics, and metallic implants. Finally, we revise emerging nanostructured biomaterials, which are receiving growing attention due to their multifunctionality and versatility mainly in the local drug delivery and bone tissue regeneration scenarios.
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