Probing the Gelation Synergies and Anti-Escherichia coli Activity of Fmoc-Phenylalanine/Graphene Oxide Hybrid Hydrogel

TY - JOUR

T1 - Probing the Gelation Synergies and Anti-Escherichia coli Activity of Fmoc-Phenylalanine/Graphene Oxide Hybrid Hydrogel

AU - Sitsanidis, Efstratios

AU - Dutra, Lara

AU - Schirmer, Johanna

AU - Chevigny, Romain

AU - Lahtinen, Manu

AU - Johansson, Andreas

AU - Piras, Carmen Cristina

AU - Smith, David K.

AU - Tiirola, Marja

AU - Pettersson, Mika

AU - Nissinen, Maija

PY - 2023/3/21

Y1 - 2023/3/21

N2 - The N-fluorenyl-9-methyloxycarbonyl (Fmoc)-protected amino acids have shown high antimicrobial application potential, among which the phenylalanine derivative (Fmoc-F) is the most well-known representative. However, the activity spectrum of Fmoc-F is restricted to Gram-positive bacteria only. The demand for efficient antimicrobial materials expanded research into graphene and its derivatives, although the reported results are somewhat controversial. Herein, we combined graphene oxide (GO) flakes with Fmoc-F amino acid to form Fmoc-F/GO hybrid hydrogel for the first time. We studied the synergistic effect of each component on gelation and assessed the material’s bactericidal activity on Gram-negative Escherichia coli (E. coli). GO flakes do not affect Fmoc-F self-assembly per se but modulate the elasticity of the gel and speed up its formation. The hybrid hydrogel affects E. coli survival, initially causing abrupt bacterial death followed by the recovery of the surviving ones due to the inoculum effect (IE). The combination of graphene with amino acids is a step forward in developing antimicrobial gels due to their easy preparation, chemical modification, graphene functionalization, cost-effectiveness, and physicochemical/biological synergy of each component.

AB - The N-fluorenyl-9-methyloxycarbonyl (Fmoc)-protected amino acids have shown high antimicrobial application potential, among which the phenylalanine derivative (Fmoc-F) is the most well-known representative. However, the activity spectrum of Fmoc-F is restricted to Gram-positive bacteria only. The demand for efficient antimicrobial materials expanded research into graphene and its derivatives, although the reported results are somewhat controversial. Herein, we combined graphene oxide (GO) flakes with Fmoc-F amino acid to form Fmoc-F/GO hybrid hydrogel for the first time. We studied the synergistic effect of each component on gelation and assessed the material’s bactericidal activity on Gram-negative Escherichia coli (E. coli). GO flakes do not affect Fmoc-F self-assembly per se but modulate the elasticity of the gel and speed up its formation. The hybrid hydrogel affects E. coli survival, initially causing abrupt bacterial death followed by the recovery of the surviving ones due to the inoculum effect (IE). The combination of graphene with amino acids is a step forward in developing antimicrobial gels due to their easy preparation, chemical modification, graphene functionalization, cost-effectiveness, and physicochemical/biological synergy of each component.

U2 - 10.1021/acsomega.2c07700

DO - 10.1021/acsomega.2c07700

M3 - Article

SN - 2470-1343

VL - 8

SP - 10225

EP - 10234

JO - ACS Omega

JF - ACS Omega

IS - 11

ER -