Methacrylate-ended polypeptides and polypeptoids for antimicrobial and antifouling coatings

• Published in: Polymer chemistry 2017-11, Vol.8 (41), p.6386-6397
• Main Authors: Gao, Qiang, Li, Peng, Zhao, Hongyang, Chen, Yashao, Jiang, Liu, Ma, Peter X
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 1759-9954; 1759-9962
• DOI: 10.1039/c7py01495c

Methacrylate-ended polypeptides/polypeptoids were successfully synthesized via ring-opening polymerization (ROP) of N -carboxyanhydrides (NCA). These oligomers were further initiated under ultraviolet (UV) irradiation by a polydopamine (pDA) layer which is attachable to the surface of virtually all materials to generate a polymer brush coating. This brush-like polymer coating comprising cationic antimicrobial polypeptides (MePpep) and antifouling polysarcosine (MePsar) exhibited effective antimicrobial activity against four pathogens ( Staphylococcus aureus , Escherichia coli , Pseudomonas aeruginosa , and Candida albicans ), as well as antifouling activity in the resistance to protein and platelet adhesion, and thus prevented biofilm formation for up to 7 days. An in vitro cytotoxicity study showed that this coating is biocompatible with mouse fibroblast (L929) cells. More importantly, this coating exhibited significant anti-infectivity in vivo . This dual-functional polymer brush coating can be immobilized on the surface of multiple categories of materials through the mussel-inspired pDA coating, and thus should be widely applicable for combating infection in many classes of bio-medical materials. Methacrylate-terminated polypept(o)ides were directly synthesized via NCA-ROP, and then surface-grafted to form a polymer brush coating with infection-resistant efficacy.