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Peptides as potent antimicrobials tethered to a solid surface: Implications for medical devices

Ivan A. Gonzalez¹, XiXi Wong², Dilhari DeAlmeida³, Raymond B. Yurko⁴, Simon C. Watkins⁵, Kazi Islam⁴, Ronald C. Montelaro³, Ahmed El-Ghannam⁶ & Timothy A. Mietzner²

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1. Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC
2. Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
3. Center for Vaccine Research, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
4. Biomedical and Clinical Core Facilities, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
5. Cell Biology and Physiology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
6. Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of North Carolina at Charlotte

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Document Type:

Manuscript

Date:

Received 11 June 2008 16:32 UTC; Posted 11 June 2008

Subjects:

Biotechnology, Microbiology

Tags:

• Biofilms
• eCAP
• antimicrobial peptides

Abstract:

Medical devices are an integral part of therapeutic management; despite their importance, they carry a significant risk of microbial infection. Bacterial attachment to a medical device is established by a single, multiplying organism, leading to subsequent biofilm formation. To date, no preventative measures have impacted the incidence of device-related infection. We report the bidirectional covalent coupling of an engineered cationic antimicrobial peptide (eCAP), WLBU2, to various biological surfaces is accomplished. These surfaces included (i) a carbohydrate-based gel matrix, (ii) a complex polymeric plastic bead, and (iii) a silica-calcium phosphate nanocomposite associated with bone reconstruction. WLBU2-conjugated surfaces are shown to retain potent antimicrobial activity related to bacterial surface adhesion. This study provides proof of principle that covalently coating laboratory and bone-regenerating materials with eCAPs has the potential for decreasing infection rates of implanted devices. These findings have important consequences to the patient management component of our current health care technology.

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This document is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License

How to cite this document:

Gonzalez, Ivan, Wong, XiXi, DeAlmeida, Dilhari, Yurko, Raymond, Watkins, Simon, Islam, Kazi, Montelaro, Ronald, El-Ghannam, Ahmed, and Mietzner, Timothy. Peptides as potent antimicrobials tethered to a solid surface: Implications for medical devices. Available from Nature Precedings <http://hdl.handle.net/10101/npre.2008.1967.1> (2008)

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