Journal
BIOTECHNOLOGY AND BIOENGINEERING
Volume 83, Issue 2, Pages 168-172Publisher
JOHN WILEY & SONS INC
DOI: 10.1002/bit.10651
Keywords
polycations; immobilization; microbicidal materials; fibers; cotton; molecular weight of polymers
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Our previous studies have led to a novel non-release 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. (C) 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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