Characterisation of a coating composed of LL-37-heparin complexes and study of its antibacterial activity

An antibacterial coating to prevent bacterial adhesion and biofilm formation on hip implants was developed by successive adsorption of oppositely-charged polyelectrolytes in a layer-by-layer fashion. The use of protein-polyelectrolyte complexes as building blocks for the immobilisation of the antimicrobial peptide LL-37 into the coating was investigated. The objective of this work was to characterise the developed coating, to assess its antibacterial activity and to study the incorporation of the antimicrobial agent LL-37 into the coating set-up.