Prevention of urinary catheter-associated infections by coating antimicrobial peptides from crowberry endophytes

• Main Authors: Monteiro, C. (Claudia), Fabíola Costa, F. C. (Fabíola Costa), Pirttilä, A. M. (Anna Maria), Tejesvi, M. V. (Mysore V.), Martins, M. C. (M. Cristina L.)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Springer Nature 2019
• Subjects: Crowberry
• Online Access: http://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi-fe2019102935542

Abstract Urinary catheters are extensively used in hospitals, being responsible for about 75% of hospital-acquired infections. In this work, a de novo designed antimicrobial peptide (AMP) Chain201D was studied in the context of urinary catheter-associated infections. Chain201D showed excellent antimicrobial activity against relevant ATCC strains and clinical isolates of bacteria and yeast and demonstrated high stability in a wide range of temperatures, pH and salt concentrations. Moreover, the bactericidal activity of Chain201D immobilized on a model surface was studied against Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), some of the most prevalent strains found in urinary catheter-associated infections. Chain201D was successfully tethered to ((1-mercapto-11-undecyl)-(tetra(ethylene glycol) (EG4)) terminated self-assembled monolayers (SAMs), (EG4-SAMs), activated by 1,1′-Carbonyldiimidazole (CDI) at different concentrations. Chain201D surfaces can bind and kill by contact a high percentage of adherent bacteria. These achievements are obtained without any peptide modification (for chemoselective conjugation) and without the use of a spacer. Moreover, increased amounts of immobilized AMP lead to higher numbers of adhered/dead bacteria, revealing a concentration-dependent behaviour and demonstrating that Chain201D has excellent potential for developing antimicrobial urinary catheters.