Anti-Biofilm Materials Using Multifunctional MOFs

生物被膜感染是医院内(医院获得性)感染的主要来源，约占西方世界所有接受治疗的患者的65%(根据1999年的估计)。几乎生物膜的一个决定性特征是它们对抗微生物药物和宿主动物自身的防御系统都有更强的抵抗力。这使得它们成为特别困难的目标，即使是在非生物膜(浮游生物)形式下得到有效处理的微生物菌株，在生物膜中形成时往往也是无法治疗的。因此，有很大的动力来开发抗击这种感染的新方法。在这个项目中，我们将寻求开发一项技术的商业和技术方面，这项技术最初是在EPSRC资助的研究项目(GR/T09705/01设计用于储存和提供大量一氧化氮的多孔金属-有机框架)期间开发的。我们已经证明，从金属有机框架中释放的一氧化氮，这是一种高度多孔的无机有机杂化材料，即使细菌已经形成生物膜群落，也能极有效地杀灭细菌。我们还表明，由于金属有机骨架的高度渗透性，我们可以与NO同时负载药物或其他小分子。在这个项目中，我们的目标是开发这些材料的商业潜力，目标是为抗生物膜市场开发一种产品。特别是，我们之前的结果表明，我们可以将这些材料配制成适合于涂覆医疗设备的聚合物。在这个项目的过程中，我们将在商业设备上涂上含有MOF的聚合物，并在行业标准条件下证明它们的抗生物膜活性。我们还将在抗生物被膜领域为这项技术开发商业化，以及提高我们的知识产权实力，并确定重要的潜在商业合作伙伴。

Biofilm infections are a major source of nosocomial (hospital-acquired) infections, accounting for ~65% of all those treated in the Western world (according to an estimate in 1999 ). Almost a defining feature of biofilms is their increased resistance to both antimicrobial drugs and to the host animal's own defences. This makes them particularly difficult targets, and even strains of microbe that are effectively treated when in their non-biofilm (planktonic) form are often untreatable when formed in biofilms. There is therefore a great incentive to develop new methods of combating such infections. In this project we will look to develop the commercial and technical aspects of a technology that we originally developed during an EPSRC-funded research projects (GR/T09705/01 Designing Porous Metal-Organic Frameworks to Store and Deliver Large Amounts of Nitric Oxide). We have proven that nitric oxide delivered from metal organic frameworks, a type of highly porous inorganic organic hybrid material, is extremely potent at killing bacteria, even when the bacteria have formed biofilm communities. We have also shown that, because of the very highly porous nature of the metal organic frameworks, we can load drugs or other small molecules simultaneously with the NO. In this project we aim to develop the commercial potential of these materials with a goal of developing a product for the anti-biofilm market. In particular our previous results have shown that we can formulate these materials into polymers suitable for coating medical devices. Over the course of this project we will coat commercial devices with MOF-containing polymers and prove their anti-biofilm activity under industry standard conditions. We will also develop a commercialisation for this technology in the anti-biofilm area as well as improving the strength of our intellectual property and identifying important potential commercial partners.