Not only are the physicochemical properties and biocompatibility of biomaterials important considerations, but also their antibacterial properties. In this study, a novel chemically-cross-linked antibacterial porcine acellular dermal matrix (pADM) scaffold was fabricated according to a two-step method. A naturally-derived oxidized chitosan oligosaccharide (OCOS) was used to cross-linked pADM (termed OCOS-pADM) to improve its physicochemical properties. Residual aldehyde groups within the OCOS-pADM were used in a redox reaction with Ag ions to produce Ag nanoparticles (AgNPs) in situ. As the AgNPs were tightly adhered onto the scaffold fibrils (termed OCOS-AgNPs-pADM), this effectively functionalized scaffold with antibacterial properties. The generated AgNPs were characterized by UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, XPS and SEM. The results of DSC, TG and enzymatic degradation demonstrated that OCOS-AgNPs-pADM possessed improved thermal stability and resistance to enzymatic degradation compared with pADM scaffolds. The kinetic experiment of the release of silver showed that silver was released in a controllable way. After introducing AgNPs into scaffolds, the OCOS-AgNPs-pADM possessed wide-spectrum antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. Furthermore, MTT assay and CLSM showed that the scaffolds had good biocompatibility. Pieces of OCOS-AgNPs-pADM were implanted into Sprague-Dawley rats to characterize their ability to repair full-thickness skin wounds. And results showed that the OCOS-AgNPs-pADM could accelerate the wound healing process. Overall, this work contributes new insight into the chemical cross-linking and functionalization of pADM scaffolds. In addition, as novel antibacterial scaffolds, OCOS-AgNPs-pADMs have the potential for development as wound dressing materials.
Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V.