SBIR Phase I: Catechol Linker Oligosaccharide Combinations for Antimicrobial Surfaces

这项小企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目的更广泛/商业影响是减少了深度植入物相关感染的破坏性影响。这项技术可以改善临床结果，降低发病率和死亡率，从而促进美国公众的临床健康和福利。该项目解决的技术可以保护外科植入物，如关节置换术和脊柱融合系统免受细菌定植和发展感染。这项技术可以显著减少美国医疗保健系统因植入物相关感染造成的超过30亿美元的成本。这种抗菌技术可以用于医疗以外的应用，如食品包装，以减少食源性疾病，并使某些食品的保质期延长一倍以上。此外，通过该项目开发的连接器技术可用于制造超光滑或自清洁表面，应用于航空航天和海洋工业，从而提高燃油效率和性能。本项目旨在开发一种均质、共价结合的连接分子，附着在医用植入材料（钛合金）上，随后附着一种季铵修饰的低聚糖。低聚糖是已知的生物相容性和季铵盐化低聚糖是高效的抗菌剂。经过处理的医疗植入物可以拥有强大的抗菌表面，这样在手术过程中，任何接触到表面的细菌都会被杀死。通过这种方式，希望植入物的无血管表面不会成为生物膜形成和生长的场所，从而减少围手术期感染的发生率。任何成功的表面修饰的关键是连接剂和活性分子在该表面的化学附着的质量。多酚和儿茶酚（如多巴胺）是理想的研究对象，因为这些分子通常以在各种表面上形成薄膜的能力而闻名。使用多巴胺作为模型系统，儿茶酚类似物将被电化学附着，并分析所得到的薄膜的附着、厚度、进一步修饰的便利性和形态。原子力显微镜（AFM），紫外/可见光谱学，浸泡/应力协议和微生物学将用于衡量薄膜加寡糖组合的成功或失败。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader/commercial impact of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase 1 project is a decrease in the devastating effects of deep implant-related infections. The technology could result in advances to the clinical health and welfare of the American public by improving clinical outcomes and decreasing morbidity and mortality. The technology addressed by this project may protect surgical implants, such as joint replacements and spinal fusion systems from bacterial colonization and developing infections. This technology could significantly reduce the greater than $3 billion cost to the US healthcare system from implant related infections. This antimicrobial technology could be used beyond medical applications for such things as food packaging to decrease foodborne diseases and more than double shelf-life of certain food products. Additionally, the linker technology developed through this project may be used to create super slick or self-cleaning surfaces with applications in the aerospace and marine industries resulting in increased fuel efficiency and performance.The project aims to develop a homogeneous, covalently bound, linker molecule attached to medical implant material (titanium alloy) upon which a quaternary ammonium-modified oligosaccharide will be subsequently attached. Oligosaccharides are known to be biocompatible and quaternized oligosaccharides are highly potent antimicrobials. A treated medical implant could possess a powerfully antimicrobial surface so that, during surgery, any bacteria that encounter the surface will be killed. In this way, it is hoped that the avascular surface of the implant will not serve as a site for biofilm formation and growth and thus, reduce the incidence of perioperative infections. The key to any successful surface modification is the quality of the chemical attachment of linkers and active molecules to that surface. Polyphenols and catechols such as dopamine are ideal candidates for investigation as these molecules are generally known for their facility in forming thin films onto a wide variety of surfaces. Using dopamine as a model system, catechol analogs will be electrochemically attached, and the resulting thin films analyzed for attachment, thickness, ease of further modification, and morphology. Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), UV/Visible spectroscopy, soak/stress protocols and microbiology will be used to gauge the success or failure of a thin film plus oligosaccharide combination.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.