Date of Completion

2024

Document Type

Honors College Thesis

Department

Biomedical Engineering

Thesis Type

Honors College, College of Arts and Science Honors

First Advisor

Dr. Amber Doiron

Second Advisor

Dr. Matthias Brewer

Keywords

biofilm dispersion, wound dressing, enzyme encapsulation, alginate hydrogel

Abstract

Biofilm infections present a formidable challenge in wound management due to their tolerance to antimicrobial treatments. This study introduces a novel hydrogel wound dressing designed to deplete pyruvate, a key metabolite in biofilm formation and maintenance, from the wound environment. Hydrogel sheets made from the natural polymer alginate crosslinked with calcium chloride (CaCl2) were synthesized with varied concentrations, with and without the pyruvate-depleting enzyme pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH). Through analysis of mechanical properties, swelling behavior, morphology, porosity, and enzymatic activity, the study characterizes the hydrogels and demonstrates effective PDH entrapment within the sheets. Results indicate promising potential for biofilm management through pyruvate depletion. Future research will focus on optimizing PDH loading and assessing the dressing's efficacy in biofilm studies.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.

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