Antibacterial mesh: a novel technique involving naturally occurring cellular proteins.
Yurko. Yuliya Y; McDeavitt. Kathleen K; Kumar. Rohan Satish RS; Martin. Terri T; Prabhu. Ajita A; Lincourt. Amy E AE; Vertegel. Alexey A; Heniford. B Todd BT
Key Findings
- Lysostaphin-coated mesh completely eliminated Staphylococcus aureus in the test.
- Meshes coated with LL-37, lysozyme, or human beta‑defensin‑3 showed no difference from untreated mesh – bacteria survived fully.
- Optical density and colony‑count assays confirmed that LL-37 had no measurable antibacterial effect when adsorbed to polypropylene mesh.
Practical Outcomes
- For DIY or biohacker projects aiming to create antibacterial mesh, LL-37 is not a useful coating; it offers no protection against Staph infections in this format. If you need a mesh‑based antimicrobial strategy, consider agents like lysostaphin instead. LL-37 may still have other health benefits, but this study shows it doesn’t work for mesh sterilization.
Summary
The researchers stuck several natural antimicrobial proteins onto a common surgical mesh and tested whether they could stop Staph bacteria from growing. Only lysostaphin killed the bugs; LL-37 (the cathelicidin peptide) did not reduce bacterial numbers at all.
Abstract
Naturally occurring antimicrobial peptides are possibly the "next frontier" in infection prevention. Binding them to mesh could reduce the rate of mesh infections. This study identifies an antimicrobial agent capable of significant antibacterial activity when bound to mesh. Lysozyme, human beta defensin (HBD-3), human cathelicidin (LL-37), and lysostaphin were adsorbed to polypropylene mesh at various concentrations. Treated meshes were placed in a suspension of 1 × 10(6) Staphylococcus aureus. Antibacterial action was monitored by turbidimetric assay, fluorescent imaging, and a colony counting method. A very high rate of lysis of S aureus cells was observed in the lysostaphin-treated group as measured by optical density; none survived as seen on colony count assays. Optical density for mesh coated with lysozyme, HBD-3, and LL-37 did not differ from untreated controls, with 100% survival rates by colony counts. Lysostaphin had superior antibacterial activity following adsorption to mesh.
Study Information
pubmed
2011
2011-07-07T00:00:00.000Z
10.1177/1553350611410716
8
35