title: Building an antifouling zwitterionic coating on urinary catheters using an enzymatically triggered bottom-up approach.
abstract: Catheter associated urinary tract infections are common during hospitalization due to the formation of bacterial biofilms on the indwelling device. In this study, we report an innovative biotechnology-based approach for the covalent functionalization of silicone catheters with antifouling zwitterionic moieties to prevent biofilm formation. Our approach combines the potential bioactivity of a natural phenolics layer biocatalytically conjugated to sulfobetaine-acrylic residues in an enzymatically initiated surface radical polymerization with laccase. To ensure sufficient coating stability in urine, the silicone catheter is plasma-activated. In contrast to industrial chemical methods, the methacrylate-containing zwitterionic monomers are polymerized at pH 5 and 50 °C using as an initiator the phenoxy radicals solely generated by laccase on the phenolics-coated catheter surface. The coated catheters are characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Fourier transformed infrared (FTIR) analysis, atomic force microscopy (AFM), and colorimetrically. Contact angle and protein adsorption measurements, coupled with in vitro tests with the Gram-negative Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus in static and dynamic conditions, mimicking the operational conditions to be faced by the catheters, demonstrate reduced biofilm formation by about 80% when compared to that of unmodified urinary catheters. The zwitterionic coating did not affect the viability of the human fibroblasts (BJ-5ta) over seven days, corresponding to the extended useful life of urinary catheters.
authors: Grup de Biotecnologia Molecular i Industrial, Department of Chemical Engineering, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya , Rambla Sant Nebridi 22, 08222 Terrassa, Spain.
authors: Carlos
authors: C
authors: Diaz Blanco
authors: Andreas
authors: A
authors: Ortner
authors: Radostin
authors: R
authors: Dimitrov
authors: Antonio
authors: A
authors: Navarro
authors: Ernest
authors: E
authors: Mendoza
authors: Tzanko
authors: T
authors: Tzanov
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry; D018441:Biofilms / Q000254:growth & development*; D020099:Coated Materials, Biocompatible / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry; D006801:Humans; D042845:Laccase / Q000737:chemistry*; D011550:Pseudomonas aeruginosa / Q000502:physiology*; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000502:physiology*; D062885:Urinary Catheters
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D020099:Coated Materials, Biocompatible; D042845:Laccase