CuSO4/H2O2 induced polydopamine/polysulfobetaine methacrylate co-deposition on poly(amino acid) membranes for improved anti-protein adsorption and antibacterial activity

Stopping postoperative soft tissue adhesions is one of the most challenging clinical problems that needs to be addressed urgently to avoid secondary injury and pain to patients. Currently, membrane materials with anti-protein adsorption and antibacterial activity are recognized as an effective and promising anti-adhesion barrier to prevent postoperative adhesion and the recurrent adhesion after adhesiolysis. Herein, poly(amino acid) (PAA), which is structurally similar to collagen, is selected as the membrane base material to successfully synthesize PAA-5 membranes with excellent mechanical and degradation properties by in-situ melt polymerization and hot-melt film-forming technology. Subsequently, CuSO4/H2O2 induced co-deposition of the polydopamine/polysulfobetaine methacrylate (PDA/PSBMA) coatings brought excellent biological properties to the PAA-5 membranes. In vitro studies indicated that the introduction of copper ions and quaternary ammonium salts resulted in superior hemocompatibility, anti-protein activity and cytocompatibility of PDC-5S and PDC-10S. Additionally, PDC-5S and PDC-10S demonstrated significant antibacterial activity against E. coli and S. aureus, with an inhibition rate of more than 90%. As a result, this study sheds light on newly discovered PAA membranes with anti-protein adsorption and antibacterial activity can sever as one of the promising candidates for the prevention of postoperative peritoneum adhesions.