Polyacrylonitrile nanofibrous mat from electrospinning: Born with potential anti-fungal functionality

Electrospun nanofibers have been found in many applications such as air/water filtration, performance apparel, drug delivery, and scaffold for tissue engineering and started to be integrated in commercial products, which leads to their exposure to environment. Electrospun nanofibrous material is a relatively new material to microorganism in nature and little is known about the biological implication of interactions between electrospun nanofibrous mats and cellular fungal cells. Herein the interaction between electrospun polyacrylonitrile (ESPAN) nanofibrous mat and representative non-pathogenic/pathogenic cellular yeasts (Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Candida albicans) was investigated. It is demonstrated for the first time that when these cellular yeasts, species of the kingdom fungi, were exposed to ESPAN nanofibrous mat, they exhibited lower growth rate, radical change to morphology, and reduced viability without presence of any chemical antifungal agent. These responses were distinct from the cellular interactions with other forms of PAN materials (e.g. solid film or microfibrous mat). Exploration of mechanism indicated that the interaction between yeast cell and electrospun nanofibrous mat is a complex phenomenon in which both nanofibrous morphology and fiber surface composition/property play significant roles. The inherent anti-yeast and potential anti-fungal functionality of ESPAN nanofibrous mat may make an immediate impact on environmental microorganism and could also benefit the next-generation material design to control microbial growth through solely physical contact.

电纺纳米纤维已经发现了许多应用，例如空气/水过滤，功能服装，药物输送和组织工程支架，并开始被集成到商业产品中，从而使其暴露于环境中。电纺纳米纤维材料是自然界中微生物相对较新的材料，关于电纺纳米纤维垫与细胞真菌细胞之间相互作用的生物学含义知之甚少。本文研究了静电纺聚丙烯腈（ESPAN）纳米纤维毡与代表性的非致病/致病性细胞酵母（酿酒酵母和白色念珠菌）之间的相互作用。首次证明，当这些细胞酵母（王国真菌）暴露于ESPAN纳米纤维垫时，它们显示出较低的生长速率，从根本上改变为形态，并降低了生存能力，而没有任何化学抗真菌剂。这些反应不同于与其他形式的PAN材料（例如固体膜或微纤维垫）的细胞相互作用。对机理的探索表明，酵母细胞与电纺纳米纤维垫之间的相互作用是一个复杂的现象，其中纳米纤维的形态和纤维表面组成/性质都起着重要的作用。 ESPAN纳米纤维垫固有的抗酵母和潜在的抗真菌功能可能会对环境微生物产生直接影响，也可能有益于下一代材料设计，该技术可通过仅物理接触来控制微生物的生长。

Published: 2019

Journal ：EUROPEAN POLYMER JOURNAL

Impact Factor：4.071

Paper link: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0014305719312108