A1 Journal article (refereed)
Probing the Gelation Synergies and Anti-Escherichia coli Activity of Fmoc-Phenylalanine/Graphene Oxide Hybrid Hydrogel (2023)

Sitsanidis, E. D., A. L. Dutra, L., Schirmer, J., Chevigny, R., Lahtinen, M., Johansson, A., Piras, C. C., Smith, D. K., Tiirola, M., Pettersson, M., & Nissinen, M. (2023). Probing the Gelation Synergies and Anti-Escherichia coli Activity of Fmoc-Phenylalanine/Graphene Oxide Hybrid Hydrogel. ACS Omega, 8(11), 10225-10234. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsomega.2c07700

JYU authors or editors

Publication details

All authors or editors: Sitsanidis, Efstratios D.; A. L. Dutra, Lara; Schirmer, Johanna; Chevigny, Romain; Lahtinen, Manu; Johansson, Andreas; Piras, Carmen C.; Smith, David K.; Tiirola, Marja; Pettersson, Mika; et al.

Journal or series: ACS Omega

eISSN: 2470-1343

Publication year: 2023

Publication date: 08/03/2023

Volume: 8

Issue number: 11

Pages range: 10225-10234

Publisher: American Chemical Society (ACS)

Publication country: United States

Publication language: English

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acsomega.2c07700

Publication open access: Openly available

Publication channel open access: Open Access channel

Publication is parallel published (JYX): https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/86111

Abstract

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.

Keywords: bacteria; hydrogels; peptides; proteins; coagulation

Free keywords: bacteria; gelation; hydrogels; monomers; peptides; proteins

Contributing organizations

Ministry reporting: Yes

Reporting Year: 2023

Preliminary JUFO rating: 1