Next-generation Antimicrobial Peptides (AMPs) incorporated nanofibre wound dressings

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) containing polymer-based nanodelivery systems offer to overcome many challenges in wound care. While preventing the contact of the external agents on the wound, it also addresses a rising concern on the drug resistance. AMPs as the host defence peptides have been increasingly recognized for therapeutic potential owning to their critical role in innate immunity. Here we investigated a nanofibre mesh approach using AMPs incorporated polyethylene oxide (PEO) for wound healing applications. PEO was prepared to carry GH12-COOH-M2 (type 1 AMP) and AMP2 (type 2 AMP), and their antibacterial activity was assessed against Staphylococcus epidermidis (S. epidermidis). PEO-AMP nanofibre meshes were successfully formed by using pressurized gyration (PG), which allows rapid mass production. Bacterial viability of the nanofibre meshes was investigated using the AlamarBlue assay. Fibre morphology, size distribution and AMP incorporation in the nanofibres were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), fluorescence microscopy (polarization contrast images) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). While both PEO-AMP1 and PEO-AMP2 nanofibres indicate promising bacterial inhibition at 105 µg/ml, PEO-AMP2 fibres showed the highest S. epidermidis reduction. The results demonstrated that increase in the AMP content reduced the bacterial growth. Another important implementation of the PEO-AMP nanofibres is that they can be tuned to rapidly releasing the peptides. Antimicrobial peptide-loaded nanofibres represent a viable biologically active solution to next-generation wound dressings.