Industrial‐scale fabrication of an osteogenic and antibacterial PLA/silver‐loaded calcium phosphate composite with significantly reduced cytotoxicity

Biochemical Approach to Poly(Lactide)-Copper Composite-Impact on Blood Coagulation Processes

The paper presents the investigation of the biological properties of Poly(Lactide)-Copper composite material obtained by sputter deposition of copper onto Poly(lactide) melt-blown nonwoven fabrics. The functionalized composite material was subjected to microbial activity tests against colonies of Gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus), Gram-negative (Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa) bacteria, Chaetomium globosum and Candida albicans fungal mold species and biochemical-hematological tests including the evaluation of the Activated Partial Thromboplastin Time, Prothrombin Time, Thrombin Time and electron microscopy fibrin network imaging. The substantial antimicrobial and antifungal activities of the Poly(Lactide)-Copper composite suggests potential applications as an antibacterial/antifungal material. The unmodified Poly(Lactide) fabric showed accelerated human blood plasma clotting in the intrinsic pathway, while copper plating abolished this effect. Unmodified PLA itself could be used for the preparation of wound dressing materials, accelerating coagulation in the case of hemorrhages, and its modifications with the use of various metals might be applied as new customized materials where blood coagulation process could be well controlled, yielding additional anti-pathogen effects.

Phosphonate/quaternary ammonium copolymers as high-efficiency antibacterial coating for metallic substrates

Designing a coating material with efficient bactericidal property to cope with bacterial associated infections is highly desirable for metallic implants and devices. Here, we report phosphonate/quaternary ammonium copolymers, p(DEMMP-co-TMAEMA), as the new type of metal anchorable high-efficiency antibacterial coating. Seven p(DEMMP-co-TMAEMA) polymers with varied cationic components were precisely prepared via random radical polymerization. Copolymers were constructed on titanium alloy (TC4) substrates based on strong covalent bonding between the phosphonate group and metallic substrates through a one-step process as evidenced by XPS and water contact angle tests. A robust relationship between the composition of the copolymers and the bactericidal ability endowed to TC4 substrates was established. Results showed that the copolymer, with the pDEMMP content even as low as 6.3%, was able to anchor onto TC4 substrates. With the increase of cationic pTMAEMA content from 4.0 to 93.7% in the coating copolymer, the bactericidal ability endowed to the TC4 substrates was steadily increased from 39.4 to 98.8% for S. aureus and from 70.0 to 99.4% for E. coli after 8 h's of contacting. All p(DEMMP-co-TMAEMA) coating on TC4 substrates showed limited cytotoxicity to C2C12 cells. Notably, the phosphonate/quaternary amine copolymers can be easily constructed on diverse biomedical metals such as titanium (Ti), stainless steel (SS), and Ni/Cr alloys with significantly increased antibacterial performance, demonstrating the potency of the copolymer as the general high-efficiency antibacterial coating for diverse bio-metals.

Metal-based nanoparticles for bone tissue engineering

Tissue is vital to the organization of multicellular organisms, because it creates the different organs and provides the main scaffold for body shape. The quest for effective methods to allow tissue regeneration and create scaffolds for new tissue growth has intensified in recent years. Tissue engineering has recently used some promising alternatives to existing conventional scaffold materials, many of which have been derived from nanotechnology. One important example of these is metal nanoparticles. The purpose of this review is to cover novel tissue engineering methods, paying special attention to those based on the use of metal-based nanoparticles. The unique physiochemical properties of metal nanoparticles, such as antibacterial effects, shape memory phenomenon, low cytotoxicity, stimulation of the proliferation process, good mechanical and tensile strength, acceptable biocompatibility, significant osteogenic potential, and ability to regulate cell growth pathways, suggest that they can perform as novel types of scaffolds for bone tissue engineering. The basic principles of various nanoparticle-based composites and scaffolds are discussed in this review. The merits and demerits of these particles are critically discussed, and their importance in bone tissue engineering is highlighted.

Antimicrobial Electrodeposited Silver-Containing Calcium Phosphate Coatings

Biocompatible antimicrobial coatings may enhance the function of many orthopedic implants by combating infection. Hydroxyapatite is a choice mineral for such a coating as it is native to bone and silver would be a possible antimicrobial agent as it is also commonly used in biomedical applications. The aim of the research is to develop a silver-containing calcium phosphate (Ag/Ca-P) coating via electrochemical deposition on titanium substrates as this allows for controlled coating buildup on complex shapes and porous surfaces. Two different deposition approaches are explored: one-step Ag/Ca-P(1) deposition coatings, containing silver ions as microsized silver phosphate particles embedded in the Ca-P matrix; and via a two-step method (Ag/Ca-P(2)) where silver is deposited as metallic silver nanoparticle on the Ca-P coating. The Ag/Ca-P(1) coating displays a bacterial reduction of 76.1 ± 8.3% via Ag-ion leaching. The Ag/Ca-P(2) coating displays a bacterial reduction of 83.7 ± 4.5% via contact killing. Interestingly, by preincubation in phosphate-buffered saline solution, bacterial reduction improves to 97.6 ± 2.7 and 99.7 ± 0.4% for Ag/Ca-P(1) and Ag/Ca-P(2) coatings, respectively, due to leaching of formed AgCl_x^(x-1)- species. The biocompatibility evaluation indicates that the Ag/Ca-P(1) coating is cytotoxic towards osteoblasts while the Ag/Ca-P(2) coating shows excellent compatibility. The electrochemical deposition of highly bactericidal coatings with excellent biocompatibility will enable us to coat future bone implants even with complex or porous structures.