Self-Transforming Antibiofilm Polyurethane Copolymers with Arginine-Mimetic Cationic Activity for Infection-Resistant Implants
Abstract
When bacteria colonize an implant surface, the resulting biofilm renders both antibiotics and the host immune response ineffective.A protective coating on the implant may remain effective initially but lose its function gradually.Here, we show that a segmented polyurethane (PU) copolymer bearing pendant guanidinium groups functions as the active antimicrobial in two material forms: first, as a cationic surface coating; and, upon enzymatic degradation of the polycaprolactone backbone driven by lipase, as cationic colloidal micellar assemblies.Three arginine-mimetic polyurethane (AmPU) compositions (AmPU-H13/H37/H56) with varied hydrophilic content (wH = 13, 37, and 56 wt%) and guanidinium density (CGu = 0.44, 0.39, and 0.35 mmol g - 1 ) are designed, synthesized, and applied.The antibacterial performance of the coatings and micelles followed opposite trends; the intermediate composition, AmPU-H37, exhibited strong bactericidal activity in both forms.AmPU-H37 selectively disrupted S. aureus biofilms but was ineffective against E. coli biofilms, consistent with a lipase-dependent mechanism of action.In a mouse subcutaneous infection model, AmPU-H37 reduced the peri-implant bacterial load by 95% (day 3) while the inflammatory thickness decreased from 98 µm to 27 µm.The composition programmed self-transformation of the polyurethane copolymer thus provides an antibiotic-free design strategy for antibiofilm implant interfaces.
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BibTeX
@misc{wang2026selftransforming,
title = {{Self-Transforming Antibiofilm Polyurethane Copolymers with Arginine-Mimetic Cationic Activity for Infection-Resistant Implants}},
author = {Haoran Wang},
howpublished = {ChemRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.26434/chemrxiv.15009687/v1},
url = {https://chemrxiv.org/doi/full/10.26434/chemrxiv.15009687/v1},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Self-Transforming Antibiofilm Polyurethane Copolymers with Arginine-Mimetic Cationic Activity for Infection-Resistant Implants
AU - Haoran Wang
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/30
PB - ChemRxiv
DO - 10.26434/chemrxiv.15009687/v1
UR - https://chemrxiv.org/doi/full/10.26434/chemrxiv.15009687/v1
AB - When bacteria colonize an implant surface, the resulting biofilm renders both antibiotics and the host immune response ineffective.A protective coating on the implant may remain effective initially but lose its function gradually.Here, we show that a segmented polyurethane (PU) copolymer bearing pendant guanidinium groups functions as the active antimicrobial in two material forms: first, as a cationic surface coating; and, upon enzymatic degradation of the polycaprolactone backbone driven by lipase, as cationic colloidal micellar assemblies.Three arginine-mimetic polyurethane (AmPU) compositions (AmPU-H13/H37/H56) with varied hydrophilic content (wH = 13, 37, and 56 wt%) and guanidinium density (CGu = 0.44, 0.39, and 0.35 mmol g - 1 ) are designed, synthesized, and applied.The antibacterial performance of the coatings and micelles followed opposite trends; the intermediate composition, AmPU-H37, exhibited strong bactericidal activity in both forms.AmPU-H37 selectively disrupted S. aureus biofilms but was ineffective against E. coli biofilms, consistent with a lipase-dependent mechanism of action.In a mouse subcutaneous infection model, AmPU-H37 reduced the peri-implant bacterial load by 95% (day 3) while the inflammatory thickness decreased from 98 µm to 27 µm.The composition programmed self-transformation of the polyurethane copolymer thus provides an antibiotic-free design strategy for antibiofilm implant interfaces.
ER -