PCL-gelatin honey scaffolds promote Staphylococcus aureus agrA expression in biofilms with Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Genevieve M Hilliard; Thomas Stephens Wilkinson; Llinos G Harris; Rowena E Jenkins; Laurie P Shornick

doi:10.3389/fmicb.2024.1440658

PCL-gelatin honey scaffolds promote Staphylococcus aureus agrA expression in biofilms with Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Front Microbiol. 2024 Sep 3:15:1440658. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2024.1440658. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Genevieve M Hilliard¹, Thomas Stephens Wilkinson², Llinos G Harris², Rowena E Jenkins², Laurie P Shornick¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biology at Saint Louis University, St. Louis, MO, United States.
² Biomedical Sciences at University of Swansea, Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom.

Abstract

Introduction: Bacterial infection and biofilm formation contribute to impaired healing in chronic diabetic wounds. Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa are found in human diabetic wound biofilms. They may develop antibiotic resistance, increasing the urgency for alternative or complementary therapies. Diabetic wound healing may be improved with the use of biomedically engineered scaffolds, which can also serve as delivery systems for antibacterial compounds. Manuka honey is a potent antibacterial and wound care agent due to its high osmolarity, low pH, and constituents (such as methylglyoxal). Honey exhibits bacteriostatic and bactericidal effects, modulates the expression of biofilm forming genes, and restores antibiotic susceptibility in previously drug resistant pathogens.

Methods: In this study, we created a dermal regeneration template (DRT) composed of polycaprolactone-gelatin (PCL-gelatin) and Manuka honey to retain honey in the wound and also provide a scaffold for tissue regeneration.

Results and discussion: Soluble Manuka honey inhibited the planktonic and biofilm growth of both S. aureus (UWH3) and P. aeruginosa (PA14) co-cultures. Manuka honey embedded PCL-gelatin scaffolds did not exhibit bacteriostatic or bactericidal effects on cocultures of UHW3 and PA14; however, they promoted the expression of AgrA, a gene associated with dispersal of S. aureus biofilms.

Keywords: ESKAPE pathogens; bacteria; biofilm; honey; wound care.

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare that financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. GH gratefully acknowledges financial support for this project by the Fulbright U.S. Student Program, which is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State and the US-UK Fulbright Commission. Additionally, Global Wales was involved in the sponsorship of her grant “The Fulbright Global Wales Visiting Student Researcher Award”. The contents of this publication are solely the responsibility of the author and do not necessarily represent the official views of the Fulbright Program, the Government of the United States, the US-UK Fulbright Commission, or Global Wales.