Surface Engineering of Central Venous Catheters via Combination of Antibacterial Endothelium‐Mimicking Function and Fibrinolytic Activity for Combating Blood Stream Infection and Thrombosis

Abstract

AbstractLong‐term blood‐contacting devices (e.g., central venous catheters, CVCs) still face the highest incidence of blood stream infection and thrombosis in clinical application. To effectively address these complications, this work reports a dual‐functional surface engineering strategy for CVCs by organic integration of endothelium‐mimicking and fibrinolytic functions. In this proposal, a lysine (Lys)/Cu2+‐incorporated zwitterionic polymer coating (defined as PDA/Lys/Cu‐SB) is designed and robustly fabricated onto commercial CVCs using a facile two‐step process. Initially, adhesive ene‐functionalized dopamine is covalently reacted with Lys and simultaneously coordinated with bactericidal Cu2+ ions, leading to the deposition of a PDA/Lys/Cu coating on CVCs through mussel foot protein inspired surface chemistry. Next, zwitterionic poly(sulfobetaine methacrylate) (pSB) brushes are grafted onto the PDA/Lys/Cu coating to endow lubricant and antifouling properties. In the final PDA/Lys/Cu‐SB coating, endothelium‐mimicking function is achieved by combining the catalytic generation of nitric oxide from the chelated Cu2+ with antifouling pSB brushes, which led to significant prevention of thrombosis, and bacterial infection in vivo. Furthermore, the immobilized Lys with fibrinolytic activity show remarkably enhanced long‐term anti‐thrombogenic properties as evidenced in vivo by demonstrating the capability to lyse nascent clots. Therefore, this developed strategy provides a promising solution for long‐term blood‐contacting devices to combat thrombosis and infection.