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Modification of fabrics by stereochemical antiadhesion strategies is an emerging approach to antimicrobial fabric finishing. However, a purely antiadhesive fabric cannot avoid the passive adhesion of pathogenic microorganisms. To address this issue, borneol 4-formylbenzoate (BF) with a stereochemical structure is introduced into a cationic polymer PEI-modified PET fabric by a simple two-step method. The obtained fabric exhibits remarkable features of high bactericidal activity, excellent resistance to bacterial adhesion, desirable fungal repellent performance, and low cytotoxicity. More impressively, this modified fabric not only effectively reduces microbial contamination during food preservation but also plays a role in avoiding infection and accelerating wound healing in the mouse wound model. The dual coordination between stereochemistry and cations is validated as a viable "attack and defense" antimicrobial strategy, providing an effective guide for diversiform antimicrobial designs.

Biofilm is a crucial virulence factor for microorganisms that causes chronic infection. After biofilm formation, the bacteria present improve drug tolerance and multifactorial defense mechanisms, which impose significant challenges for the use of antimicrobials. This indicates the urgent need for new targeted technologies and emerging therapeutic strategies. In this review, we focus on the current biofilm-targeting strategies and those under development, including targeting persistent cells, quorum quenching, and phage therapy. We emphasize biofilm-targeting technologies that are supported by blocking the biofilm life cycle, providing a theoretical basis for design of targeting technology that disrupts the biofilm and promotes practical application of antibacterial materials.

Antimicrobial modification of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) is effective in preventing the adhesion and growth of microorganisms on its surface. However, few methods are available to modify PET directly at its backbone to impart the antimicrobial effect. Herein, menthoxytriazine-modified PET (PMETM) based on the stereochemical antimicrobial strategy was reported. This novel PET was prepared by inserting menthoxytriazine into the PET backbone. The antibacterial adhesion test and the antifungal landing test were employed to confirm the antiadhesion ability of PMETM. PMETM could effectively inhibit the adhesion of bacteria, with inhibition ratios of 99.9 and 99.7% against Escherichia coli (Gram-negative) and Bacillus subtilis (Gram-positive), respectively. In addition, PMETM exhibited excellent resistance to Aspergillus niger (fungal) contamination for more than 30 days. Cytotoxicity assays indicated that PMETM was a noncytotoxic material. These results suggested that the insertion of menthoxytriazine in the PET backbone was a promising strategy to confer antimicrobial properties to PET.

Antimicrobial modifications of chitosan usually endow the products with strong bactericidal activities. However, if the products come into direct contact with human skin, the skin flora, which is beneficial to human health, may be damaged. To address this issue, we developed a stereochemical antimicrobial strategy by grafting borneol 4-formylbenzoate to chitosan using a stable Schiff base bond; this process yielded borneol-modified chitosan (BMC) as a novel antimicrobial material. This material was challenged with gram-negative Escherichia coli, gram-positive Bacillus subtilis, and Aspergillus niger. All tests showed excellent antimicrobial adhesive properties. Guinea pig skin experiments further demonstrated that BMC did not damage the skin flora. Owing to the antimicrobial mechanism of borneol stereochemistry, BMC successfully defended against pathogens and protected the skin flora. Thus, this material may have excellent potential applications in multifunctional textiles, healthcare, and flexible skin electronics., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Microbial contamination on cotton textiles (CT) negatively affects people's health as well as the textile itself during use and storage. Using antimicrobial CT in a body-safe manner is currently still a challenge because it is difficult to balance killing microbes and protecting skin flora. Herein, a borneol-decorated CT (BDCT) through coupling of borneol 4-formylbenzoate molecules onto the amino-modified CT is reported. This BDCT shows strong and broad-spectrum microbially antiadhesive activities against gram-positive bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus and S. epidermidis), gram-negative bacteria (Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa), and fungi (Aspergillus niger, Mucor racemosus, and Candida albicans). Because of its unique stereochemical microbial antiadhesion mechanism, BDCT is harmless to skin flora. In addition, BDCT exhibits prominent durability of microbially antiadhesive capability by bearing 50 times of accelerated laundering. Therefore, this stereochemical BDCT strategy shows great potential for applications in the new generation of textiles, food packaging, and medical protection., (© 2019 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)