Biomimetic chitosan-derived bifunctional lubricant with superior antibacterial and hydration lubrication performances

The lubrication deficiency in joints is a major cause of osteoarthritis. One of the most commonly used treatment means is to inject artificial lubricants, but there is a potential risk of infection during the injec-tion process. Therefore, developing artificial lubricants with dual functions of friction-reduction and antibacterial is urgent. In this work, a novel polysaccharide-derived lubricant with simultaneous anti -bacteria and water-lubrication properties, called CS-MPC-N, is developed by grafting 2 methacryloy-loxylethyl phosphorylcholine (MPC) and nisin peptide onto backbone of chitosan (CS). Compared to the control CS, CS-MPC-N exhibits good lubrication and friction-reduction properties because of its excel-lent water solubility. Especially, CS-MPC-N shows low friction coefficient (0.03 ti 0.05) at the sliding interfaces of artificial joints materials or even natural articular cartilages. Moreover, CS-MPC-N can effec-tively inhibit the proliferation of Staphylococcus aureu, exhibiting excellent antibacterial effect. This kind of novel polysaccharide-derived lubricant is expected to be used in treating infectious arthritis.(c) 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.