The field of biomaterials is currently focused on developing materials that can facilely interface with biological systems to treat or replace tissues or functions of the body. Natural polymers, like alginate and chitosan, have been investigated as suitable biomimetic materials to facilitate tissue regeneration. The electrospinning of natural polymers, when in relation to biomedical applications, have shown promise as tissue scaffolds and drug delivery vehicles. In this project, natural polymer-antibiotic conjugates have been developed that are hydrolytically cleavable to promote drug release from electrospun polymer scaffolds. Specifically, therapeutic-modified alginate and chitosan polymers have been synthesized and characterized. The linkage used to attach ciprofloxacin to the alginate- and chitosan-backbones is sensitive to hydrolysis at physiological pH, which is key to ensuring the release of the therapeutic from the nanofibers. Release rates have been observed for the cleavage of our therapeutic-modified polymers, which have been electrospun. These products will lead to improved understanding of alginate- and chitosan-based wound healing materials, especially in the field of modern drug-laden, wound dressings, or in other applications where controlled release of small molecules is desirable.

Preparation and characterization of electrospun natural polymer-antibiotic bioconjugates towards the release of a therapeutic

256th National Meeting (2018)

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