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. 2020 Nov 18;12(11):2735.
doi: 10.3390/polym12112735.

Mechanistic Study of Synergistic Antimicrobial Effects between Poly (3-hydroxybutyrate) Oligomer and Polyethylene Glycol

Ziheng Zhang  1 , Jun Li  1 , Linlin Ma  1 , Xingxing Yang  1 , Bin Fei  1 , Polly H M Leung  2 , Xiaoming Tao  1
Affiliations

Mechanistic Study of Synergistic Antimicrobial Effects between Poly (3-hydroxybutyrate) Oligomer and Polyethylene Glycol

Ziheng Zhang et al. Polymers (Basel). .

Abstract

Extended from our previous finding that poly (3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) oligomer is an effective antimicrobial agent against gram-positive bacteria, gram-negative bacteria, fungi and multi-drug resistant bacteria, this work investigates the effect of polyethylene glycol (PEG) on the antimicrobial effect of PHB oligomer. To investigate and explain this promoting phenomenon, three hypothetic mechanisms were proposed, that is, generation of new antimicrobial components, degradation of PHB macromolecules and dissolution/dispersion of PHB oligomer by PEG. With a series of systematic experiments and characterizations of high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS), it was deducted that PEG promotes the antimicrobial effect of PHB oligomer synergistically through dissolution/dispersion, owing to its amphipathy, which improves the hydrophilicity of PHB oligomer.

Keywords: antimicrobial agent; oligomer; poly (3-hydroxybutyric acid); polyethylene glycol; synergistic antimicrobial effect.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Images of poly (3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) and polyethylene glycol (PEG). (A) PHB powder. (B) synthesized poly (3-hydroxybutyrate) (S-PHB). (C) Extracted PHB (E-PHB) or extracted and purified PHB (EP-PHB). (D) PEG. (E) Liquid product of reaction of PHB powder and PEG under room temperature. (F) Liquid product of reaction of PHB powder and PEG under 150 °C. (G) PHB bulk.
Figure 2
Figure 2
HPLC-MS spectrum of E-PHB and EP-PHB oligomer.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Antimicrobial test for PHB powder, mixture of PHB powder and PEG reacted under room temperature, and mixture of PHB powder and PEG reacted under 150 °C. (A) Antimicrobial test against S. aureus. (B) Antimicrobial test against K. pneumoniae.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Mass spectrum of PHB powder and PEG after heat treatment. (A) Comparison between PHB power and the solid part of mixture of PHB powder and PEG after heat treatment. (B) Comparison between PEG and the liquid part of mixture of PHB powder and PEG after heat treatment.
Figure 5
Figure 5
HPLC-MS analysis on hypothesis of degradation of PHB macromolecules. (A) Comparison between PEG and liquid part of mixture of PHB bulk and PEG after treatment under 150 °C for 4 h. (B) Extract of PHB powder before and after treatment under 150 °C for 4 h with solvent of methanol: dichloromethane = 1:1.
Figure 6
Figure 6
HPLC-MS analysis on hypothesis of dissolution/dispersion of PHB oligomer by PEG. (A) Comparison of PHB bulk and the solid part of mixture of PHB bulk and PEG after heat treatment under 150 °C for 4 h. (B) Extract of PHB powder with methanol.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Schematic illustration of hypothesis of dissolution/dispersion of PHB oligomer by PEG. (A) Chemical structure of PHB and PEG. (B) Two steps are presented as dissolution/dispersion and synergistic antimicrobial effect.
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