HIGH-THROUGHPUT MICROBIAL BIOFILM ASSAY FOR THE RAPID DISCOVERY OF ANTIMICROBIAL COATINGS AND MATERIALS FOR BIOMEDICAL APPLICATIONS

摘要

A significant effort has been initiated at North Dakota State University to develop new coating technologies that effectively minimize or prevent the un-wanted microbial colonization of implanted medical devices. The primary focus of this research program has been aimed at the development of contact active or non-leaching coating systems using a combinatorial approach to dramatically accelerate the discovery process. A high-throughput microbial biofilm assay has been developed and leveraged as a primary screening tool to rapidly identify coating compositions that exhibit promising antimicrobial properties. A library of polysiloxane coatings containing bound ammonium salt moieties was generated using the combinatorial workflow and evaluated with the high-throughput microbial biofilm assays. Several compositions exhibited a substantial reduction in Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus epidermidis biofilm retention, without the presence of leachate toxicity, and were identified as coating candidates that could potentially be utilized to combat medical device-related infections.