Abstract
The threat of antibiotic resistant bacteria is a global one, with no single cause or cure. One of the many faces of this problem is in wound infection. Certain pathogenic bacteria can prevent wound healing, cause pain, and in extreme cases lead to patient mortality. To administer topical antibiotics, or to assess if a wound is infected, a clinician must remove the wound dressing, exposing the wound to contamination from potentially pathogenic species of bacteria. In this research, novel hydrogel materials have been developed that aim to deliver antibacterial compounds into an infected wound environment, without the need for dressing removal.The novel smart materials developed in this study utilise the reversible, covalent binding of boronic acids to diols. Boronic acid containing monomers have been developed for the development of boronic acid functionalised polyacrylamide gels, which have been shown to bind and release the dye alizarin Red S (ARS) in a controlled fashion. ARS has inherent antibiofilm activity, and this system has been shown to prevent the growth of S. aureus biofilms. Novel prodrugs and fluorophores have been synthesised featuring boronic acids and esters, to mask the reactivity of the active compounds. These compounds have been used as crosslinkers to form hydrogels using poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA), and their use as H2O2 sensitive drug delivery vehicles has been proved using microbiological assays with clinically relevant bacteria. PVA has been successfully crosslinked using both literature reported and novel boronic ester masked fluorophores to yield collapsible hydrogels that find utility both as potential smart materials for wound care, as well as in the sensing of reactive oxygen species.
| Date of Award | 24 Jun 2020 |
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| Original language | English |
| Awarding Institution |
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| Sponsors | Public Health England |
| Supervisor | Toby Jenkins (Supervisor) & Tony James (Supervisor) |