Journal
JOURNAL OF BIOMEDICAL MATERIALS RESEARCH
Volume 61, Issue 4, Pages 641-652Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1002/jbm.10174
Keywords
biocompatible polymers; bacterial adsorption; biofouling; surface analysis; poly(ethyleneoxide)-copoly(propyleneoxide); copolymers
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Poly(ethyleneoxide)-copoly(propyleneoxide) (PEO-PPO) polymer coatings were evaluated for their resistance to the attachment of the marker organism Serratia marcescens and the skin-borne bacteria Staphylococcus epidemidis. The copolymers were adsorbed onto poly(styrene) films-chosen as simplified physicochemical models of skin surfaces-and their surface characteristics probed by contact angle goniometry, attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR), atomic force microscopy (AFM), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). These functional surfaces were then presented to microbial cultures, bacterial attachment was assessed by fluorescence microscopy and AFM, and the structures of the polymer films examined again spectroscopically, Surface characterization data suggest that the adsorbed copolymer was partially retained at the surface and resisted bacterial attachment for 24 h. Quantitative evaluation of cell attachment was carried out by scintillation counting of C-14-labeled microorganisms in conjunction with plate counts. The results show that a densely packed layer of PEO-PPO copolymer can reduce attachment of skin commensals by an order of magnitude, even when the coating is applied by a simple adsorptive process. The work supports the hypothesis that adhesion of microorganisms to biological substrates can be reduced if a pretreatment with an appropriate copolymer can be effected in vivo. (C) 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available