BioCentury
ARTICLE | Distillery Therapeutics

Infectious disease

June 13, 2018 6:17 PM UTC

Cell culture and mouse studies suggest a PEG-based hydrogel loaded with lysostaphin could help treat orthopedic implant Staphylococcus infections. The antimicrobial enzyme lysostaphin is encapsulated in a hydrogel consisting of four-arm PEG macromers that have terminal maleimide groups to enhance the enzyme’s half-life, a protease-degradable peptide cross-linker, and cell adhesive peptides. Upon injection at a fracture site, the hydrogel polymerizes over the fracture and adheres to exposed tissue, where proteases degrade the cross-linker to deliver the lysostaphin cargo. In Staphylococcus aureus and S. epidermidis growth assays, the lysostaphin-loaded hydrogel decreased the number of bacteria colony-forming units (CFUs) compared with no treatment. In a mouse model of orthopedic implant-related infection with methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA), injection of the lysostaphin-loaded hydrogel at the fracture site decreased the number of bacteria CFUs compared with free lysostaphin. Next steps include testing hydrogel delivery of lysostaphin in large animal models of orthopedic Staphylococcus infections...

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