Poster Presentation Australian Society for Microbiology Annual Scientific Meeting 2016

Novel antifungal surface coating minimises Candida albicans adhesion and biofilm formation (#214)

Carla Giles 1 2 , Anton Y Peleg 3 4 , Hans J Griesser 1 , Bryan R Coad 1
  1. Future Industries Institute, University of South Australia, Mawson Lakes, SA, Australia
  2. School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences, University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA, Australia
  3. Infection and Immunity Program and the Department of Microbiology, Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Monash University, Clayton, Vic, Australia
  4. Department of Infectious Diseases, Central Clinical School, Alfred Hospital and Monash University, Melbourne, Vic, Australia

In Australian intensive care units Candida spp. cause 80 % of hospital acquired infections and contribute to a mortality rate over 50 % from Candidaemia (Marriott et al. 2006). New antifungal surfaces directed at minimising the adhesion of the Candida spp. to catheters and other medical devices could increase patient welfare and decrease health-care costs. We developed a novel surface coating using the antifungal caspofungin covalently bonded to the material surface, which demonstrated significant antifungal activity against various Candida spp. (Coad et al. 2015). We found that biofilm formation on caspofungin surfaces was delayed for both typed and clinical Candida strains showing significant difference when compared to untreated materials. Kinetic viability assays demonstrated that after 30 minutes C. albicans had minimal adhesion on caspofungin surfaces and after 60 minutes significant cell death was seen. For eventual clinical use, it is important to investigate the potential loss of activity that could occur through heat sterilisation and fouling by host proteins. We have demonstrated that caspofungin coatings retain excellent activity after autoclaving. Furthermore, protein fouling with serum or BSA does not inhibit activity of the surface coating. These results indicate that surface coatings with covalently attached caspofungin could be promising for biomaterial implants.

  1. Coad, BR, Lamont-Friedrich, SJ, Gwynne, L, Jasieniak, M, Griesser, SS, Traven, A, Peleg, AY & Griesser, HJ 2015, 'Surface coatings with covalently attached caspofungin are effective in eliminating fungal pathogens', Journal of Materials Chemistry B, vol. 3, no. 43, pp. 8469-8476.
  2. Marriott, D, Playford, EG, Nguyen, Q, Chen, S, Ellis, D, Slavin, M & Sorrell, T 2006, '139 Candidaemia in the Australian Intensive Care Unit: Epidemiology, clinical features and outcome from a 3 year nationwide study', International Journal of Infectious Diseases, vol. 10, pp. S77-S78.