Biomaterial from fungal extract helps heal wounds

The material is derived from pullulan, which is already widely used in food and cosmetics industry

The use of antibiotics to control bacterial infections has taken a beating with the emergence of multi-drug resistant pathogens, and researchers are looking to develop other ways of tackling such bacterial infections. In this context scientists have developed a new biomaterial that can be used to disinfect wounds and hastens the process of healing, as seen in mouse models.

Reported in a paper in the journal Biomaterials Science, the work is a collaboration between scientists from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Mandi, IIT Delhi and National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER) in Bhubaneswar

The biomaterial is derived from the polymer pullulan which is secreted by the fungus Aureobasidium pullulans. It is an exopolysaccharide, that is, this polymer is secreted by the fungus itself into the medium on which it is growing.

“We, as a research group, have a special interest and expertise in exploiting the varied properties of natural polymers for biomedical applications,” says Dr. Amit Jaiswal from IIT Mandi, who is an author of the paper.

Pullulan as a biomaterial is already successful and widely used commercially. It is exploited in food, cosmetics and pharmaceutical industry because of its non-toxic, non-mutagenic and non-immunogenic properties. Further, its ease of manufacture has also added to its appeal.

Dr. Jaiswal says that while in the biomedicine sector, it has been used for drug and gene delivery, its use as a antimicrobial biomaterial had not been explored, and that was what got the group working on this aspect.

Pullulan is basically a polymeric chain of glucose. “By keeping the biocompatible carbohydrate backbone of the polymer intact, we introduced some quaternary ammonium groups into the polymer to make it positively charged,” says Dr. Jaiswal.