Introducing mixed-charge copolymers as wound dressing biomaterials.

Herein, a pseudozwitterionic structure bearing moieties with mixed positive and negative charges is introduced to develop a potential biomaterial for wound dressing applications. New mixed-charge matrices were prepared by copolymerization of the negatively charged 3-sulfopropyl methacrylate (SA) and positively charged [2-(methacryloyloxy)ethyl] trimethylammonium (TMA) onto expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE) membranes. The charge balance was effectively regulated through the control of the initial SA/TMA ratio. The focus was then laid on the assessment of a variety of essential properties of efficient wound dressings including, hydration property, resistance to fibrinogen adsorption, hemocompatibility, as well as resistance to fibroblast attachment and bacteria colonization. It was found that the pseudozwitterionic membranes, compared to those with charge bias in the poly(SA-co-TMA) structure, exhibited the best combination of major properties. Therefore, they were further tested for wound healing. Histological examination of mouse wound treated with the pseudozwitterionic membranes exhibited complete re-epithelialization and total formation of new connective tissues after 14 days, even leading to faster healing than using commercial dressing. Results presented in this work suggest that the mixed-charge copolymers with a perfect balance of positive and negative moieties represent the newest generation of biomaterials for wound dressings.