CC BY
23LP-O-2
Laser processing of antimicrobial peptides releasing thin films for the inhibition of microbial attachment and biofilms formation on medical implants
R. Cristescu1,1. Negut1, A. Visan1, D. ¡strati2, D.E. Mihaiescu2, M. Popa3, M.C. Chifiriuc3, R.J. Narayan4, D.B. Chrisey5
1National Institute for Lasers- Plasma and Radiation Physics, Lasers Department, Bucharest-Magurele, Romania
2Politehnica University of Bucharest, Faculty of Applied Chemistry and Materials Science, Bucharest, Romania
3Faculty of Biology- Research Institute of the University of Bucharest - ¡CUB, Microbiology Immunology Department, Bucharest, Romania
4University of North Carolina, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Chapel Hill, USA 5Tulane University, Department of Physics and Engineering Physics, New Orleans, USA
Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) promise an efficient solution to the devastating global health threat of drug-resistant bacteria. In this work, we report on the fabrication of composite thin films based on AMPs nanoencapsulated in mesoporous magnetic nanoparticles using the Matrix Assisted Pulsed Laser Evaporation (MAPLE) technique; these materials may have a role in antibiotic releasing implant coatings. Investigation by SEM, TEM, and XRD revealed coating uniformity, nanoparticle shape, and crystallinity of the thin films; the chemical functional groups and bonding of the target (starting material) and thin films were compared using FT-IR, IR-spectroscopy and HR-MS. The antimicrobial activity was evaluated with "antibiotic immune" ESKAPE bacterial strains using culture-dependent, quantitative methods, which are based on the dynamic assessment of the planktonic growth as well as adherence and biofilm development in the presence of the tested surface. The biocompatibility of the obtained thin films was investigated using in vitro models. The results of our studies reveal that the mesoporous magnetic nanoparticle composite thin films fabricated by MAPLE are biocompatible and release the nanoencapsulated AMPs in active form. This approach has a promising potential for use in designing combination products and devices such as drug delivery devices and medical device surfaces with antimicrobial activity.
