Coating polypropylene surfaces with protease weakens the adhesion and increases the dispersion of Candida albicans cells

To investigate the ability of the proteases, subtilisin and alpha-chymotrypsin (aCT), to inhibit the adhesion of Candida albicans biofilm to a polypropylene surface. The proteases were immobilized on plasma-treated polypropylene by covalently linking them with either glutaraldehyde (GA) or N'-diisopropylcarbodiimide (DIC) and N-hydroxysuccinimide (NHS). The immobilization did not negatively affect the enzyme activity and in the case of subtilisin, the activity was up to 640% higher than that of the free enzyme when using N-acetyl phenylalanine ethyl ester as the substrate. The efficacies against biofilm dispersal for the GA-linked SubC and aCT coatings were 41 and 55% higher than the control (polypropylene coated with only GA), respectively, whereas no effect was observed with enzymes immobilized with DIC and NHS. The higher dispersion efficacy observed for the proteases immobilized with GA could be both steric (proper orientation of the active site) and dynamic (higher protein mobility/flexibility). Proteases immobilized on a polypropylene surface reduced the adhesion of C. albicans biofilms and therefore may be useful in developing anti-biofilm surfaces based on non-toxic molecules and sustainable strategies.