Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2-1-2018

Department

Biological Sciences

School

Biological, Environmental, and Earth Sciences

Abstract

The synthesis of a fully degradable, bio-based, sustained release, pro-antimicrobial polymer network comprised of degradable acetals (PANDA) is reported. The active antimicrobial agent – p-anisaldehyde (pA) (an extract from star anise) – was converted into a UV curable acetal containing pro-antimicrobial monomer and subsequently photopolymerized into a homogenous thiol-ene network. Under neutral to acidic conditions (pH < 8), the PANDAs undergo surface erosion and exhibit sustained release of pA over 38 days. The release of pA from PANDAs was shown to be effective against both bacterial and fungal pathogens. From a combination of confocal microscopy and transmission electron microscopy, we observed that the released pA disrupts the cell membrane. Additionally, we demonstrated that PANDAs have minimal cytotoxicity towards both epithelial cells and macrophages. Although a model platform, these results point to promising pathways for the design of fully degradable sustained-release antimicrobial systems with potential applications in agriculture, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, household/personal care, and food industries.

Comments

© 2018. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.

Publisher's Version

Publication Title

Acta Biomaterialia

Volume

67

First Page

196

Last Page

205

Included in

Biology Commons

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