title: Mechanism of bactericidal and fungicidal activities of textiles covalently modified with alkylated polyethylenimine.
abstract: Our previous studies have led to a novel "nonrelease" approach to making materials bactericidal by covalently attaching certain moderately hydrophobic polycations to their surfaces. In the present work, this strategy is extended beyond the heretofore-used nonporous materials to include common woven textiles (cotton, wool, nylon, and polyester). Pieces of such cloths derivatized with N-hexylated+methylated high-molecular-weight polyethylenimine (PEI) are strongly bactericidal against several airborne Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. In contrast, the immobilized and N-alkylated PEIs of low molecular weight have only a weak, if any, bactericidal activity. These findings support a mechanism of the antibacterial action whereby high-molecular-weight and hydrophobic polycationic chains penetrate bacterial cell membranes/walls and fatally damage them. The bactericidal textiles prepared herein are lethal not only to pathogenic bacteria but to fungi as well.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Division of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA.
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Shuyi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Qiu
authors.forename: Kim
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Lewis
authors.forename: Alexander M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Klibanov
mesh_terms: D000478:Alkylation; D000588:Amines / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D001419:Bacteria / Q000378:metabolism*; D032561:Cotton Fiber; D005658:Fungi / Q000378:metabolism*; D009757:Nylons; D011094:Polyethyleneimine / Q000378:metabolism*; D013784:Textiles; D014935:Wool
chemical_list: D000588:Amines; D009757:Nylons; D011094:Polyethyleneimine