{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,8]],"date-time":"2026-07-08T17:10:05Z","timestamp":1783530605372,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":31,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"20","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,10,18]],"date-time":"2022-10-18T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1666051200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Innovation and Technology Commission of Hong Kong SAR Government","award":["SST\/040\/20G"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["SST\/040\/20G"]}]},{"name":"Innovation and Technology Commission of Hong Kong SAR Government","award":["847A"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["847A"]}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100004377","name":"Hong Kong Polytechnic University","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["SST\/040\/20G"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["SST\/040\/20G"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100004377","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100004377","name":"Hong Kong Polytechnic University","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["847A"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["847A"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100004377","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Polymers"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Infectious microbial diseases are a major public health hazard, calling for more innovative antimicrobials. Herein, polylactic acid (PLA) oligomers have been explored and reported as a bio-safe and eco-friendly functional antimicrobial agent against pathogens, such as viruses (H1N1, H3N2, and SARS-CoV-2), bacteria (E. coli, S. aureus, K. pneumoniae, MRSA), and fungi (C. albicans). The PLA oligomers were prepared by direct catalyst-free condensation polymerization of l-lactic acid monomers and characterized by FT-IR and 1H-NMR. The antiviral results demonstrate that PLA oligomers possess robust (inhibiting rate &gt; 99%) and rapid (&lt;20 min) antiviral activity against two pandemic ssRNA viruses, including influenza A virus (IAV) and coronavirus (CoV). Furthermore, the PLA oligomers exhibit high antibacterial activities against both Gram negative (G\u2212) and Gram positive (G+) bacteria. The PLA oligomers also perform efficiently in killing a large amount of C. albicans as high as 105 cfu\/mL down to zero at the concentration of 10 mg\/mL. Thus, the broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity endowed the PLA oligomers with a promising biocidal option, except antibiotics in a wide range of applications, such as medical textiles, food preservation, water disinfection, and personal hygiene, in light of their unique biodegradability and biocompatibility.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/polym14204399","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,10,19]],"date-time":"2022-10-19T00:58:51Z","timestamp":1666141131000},"page":"4399","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":11,"title":["Synthesis of Polylactic Acid Oligomers for Broad-Spectrum Antimicrobials"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"given":"Qi","family":"Bao","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Research Institute for Intelligent Wearable Systems, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong 999077, China"},{"name":"School of Fashion and Textiles, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong 999077, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ziheng","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Research Institute for Intelligent Wearable Systems, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong 999077, China"},{"name":"School of Fashion and Textiles, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong 999077, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Baocheng","family":"Yu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430071, China"},{"name":"University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Huize","family":"Sun","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430071, China"},{"name":"University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2406-4773","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Polly Hang-mei","family":"Leung","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Research Institute for Intelligent Wearable Systems, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong 999077, China"},{"name":"Department of Health Technology and Informatics, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong 999077, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2406-0695","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Xiaoming","family":"Tao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Research Institute for Intelligent Wearable Systems, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong 999077, China"},{"name":"School of Fashion and Textiles, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong 999077, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,10,18]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"718","DOI":"10.1126\/science.300.5620.718","article-title":"Avian Flu Outbreak Sets Off Alarm Bells","volume":"300","author":"Enserink","year":"2003","journal-title":"Science"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1183","DOI":"10.1126\/science.348.6240.1183","article-title":"Amid panic, a chance to learn about MERS","volume":"348","author":"Kupferschmidt","year":"2015","journal-title":"Science"},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"65","DOI":"10.1038\/s41565-017-0013-y","article-title":"Bacterial resistance to silver nanoparticles and how to overcome it","volume":"13","author":"Prucek","year":"2018","journal-title":"Nat. Nanotechnol."},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"826","DOI":"10.1126\/science.aaj2191","article-title":"Antibiotic tolerance facilitates the evolution of resistance","volume":"355","author":"Ronin","year":"2017","journal-title":"Science"},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1064","DOI":"10.1126\/science.257.5073.1064","article-title":"The Crisis in Antibiotic Resistance","volume":"257","author":"Neu","year":"1992","journal-title":"Science"},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"996","DOI":"10.1038\/s41565-021-00929-w","article-title":"Role of bacterial motility in differential resistance mechanisms of silver nanoparticles and silver ions","volume":"16","author":"Stabryla","year":"2021","journal-title":"Nat. Nanotechnol."},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3331","DOI":"10.1038\/s41467-021-23659-y","article-title":"Multi-target mode of action of silver against Staphylococcus aureus endows it with capability to combat antibiotic resistance","volume":"12","author":"Wang","year":"2021","journal-title":"Nat. Commun."},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"463","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jcis.2011.05.009","article-title":"Synthesis and characterization of silver nanoparticle and graphene oxide nanosheet composites as a bactericidal agent for water disinfection","volume":"360","author":"Bao","year":"2011","journal-title":"J. Colloid Interface Sci."},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"279","DOI":"10.1021\/nn800596w","article-title":"Cytotoxicity and Genotoxicity of Silver Nanoparticles in Human Cells","volume":"3","author":"AshaRani","year":"2009","journal-title":"ACS Nano"},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2323","DOI":"10.1039\/C1CS15188F","article-title":"Toxicity of nanomaterials","volume":"41","author":"Sharifi","year":"2012","journal-title":"Chem. Soc. Rev."},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"632","DOI":"10.1093\/ps\/82.4.632","article-title":"Perspectives on the use of organic acids and short chain fatty acids as antimicrobials","volume":"82","author":"Ricke","year":"2003","journal-title":"Poult. Sci."},{"key":"ref_12","first-page":"364","article-title":"Biocidal polymers","volume":"11","author":"Worley","year":"1996","journal-title":"Trends Polym. Sci."},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2263","DOI":"10.1038\/s41467-017-02475-3","article-title":"Antimicrobial peptide capsids of de novo design","volume":"8","author":"Alkassem","year":"2017","journal-title":"Nat. Commun."},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"10529","DOI":"10.1016\/j.apsusc.2011.07.034","article-title":"2-Mercaptobenzothiazole doped chitosan\/11-alkanethiolate acid composite coating: Dual function for copper protection","volume":"257","author":"Bao","year":"2011","journal-title":"Appl. Surf. Sci."},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"4806","DOI":"10.1021\/acs.chemrev.6b00687","article-title":"Chemical Insights into Antibacterial N-Halamines","volume":"117","author":"Dong","year":"2017","journal-title":"Chem. Rev."},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3219","DOI":"10.1021\/jacs.0c12731","article-title":"Beyond Amphiphilic Balance: Changing Subunit Stereochemistry Alters the Pore-Forming Activity of Nylon-3 Polymers","volume":"143","author":"Liu","year":"2021","journal-title":"J. Am. Chem. Soc."},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1800432","DOI":"10.1002\/mabi.201800432","article-title":"A New Antimicrobial Agent: Poly (3-hydroxybutyric acid) Oligomer","volume":"19","author":"Ma","year":"2019","journal-title":"Macromol. Biosci."},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Zhang, Z., Li, J., Ma, L., Yang, X., Fei, B., Leung, P.H.M., and Tao, X. (2020). Mechanistic Study of Synergistic Antimicrobial Effects between Poly (3-hydroxybutyrate) Oligomer and Polyethylene Glycol. Polymers, 12.","DOI":"10.20944\/preprints202010.0231.v1"},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"493","DOI":"10.1093\/oxfordjournals.aje.a118408","article-title":"A Simple Method of Estimating Fifty Per Cent Endpoints12","volume":"27","author":"Reed","year":"1938","journal-title":"Am. J. Epidemiol."},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"141","DOI":"10.1007\/s12250-020-00230-5","article-title":"On the Calculation of TCID(50) for Quantitation of Virus Infectivity","volume":"36","author":"Lei","year":"2021","journal-title":"Virol. Sin."},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"101845","DOI":"10.1016\/j.eti.2021.101845","article-title":"Studies on the degradation and characterization of a novel metal-free polylactic acid synthesized via lipase-catalyzed polymerization: A step towards curing the environmental plastic issue","volume":"24","author":"Yadav","year":"2021","journal-title":"Environ. Technol. Innov."},{"key":"ref_22","unstructured":"Korsman, S.N.J., Preiser, W., Nutt, L., and Andersson, M.I. (2012). Virology: An Illustrated Colour Text, Churchill Livingstone Elsevier."},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1781","DOI":"10.1038\/s41564-019-0513-7","article-title":"The structure of the influenza A virus genome","volume":"4","author":"Dadonaite","year":"2019","journal-title":"Nat. Microbiol."},{"key":"ref_24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"483","DOI":"10.1139\/cjpp-2020-0286","article-title":"Current therapies under investigation for COVID-19: Potential COVID-19 treatments","volume":"98","author":"Weisberg","year":"2020","journal-title":"Can. J. Physiol. Pharmacol."},{"key":"ref_25","unstructured":"(2020, September 21). WHO Coronavirus (COVID-19) Dashboard\u2014Situation by Region, Country, Territory & Area. Available online: https:\/\/covid19.who.int\/table."},{"key":"ref_26","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2993","DOI":"10.3389\/fmicb.2019.02993","article-title":"The Fungal Cell Wall: Candida, Cryptococcus, and Aspergillus Species","volume":"10","author":"Rivera","year":"2020","journal-title":"Front. Microbiol."},{"key":"ref_27","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"231","DOI":"10.1016\/j.foodcont.2014.06.034","article-title":"Antibacterial mechanism of lactic acid on physiological and morphological properties of Salmonella Enteritidis, Escherichia coli and Listeria monocytogenes","volume":"47","author":"Wang","year":"2015","journal-title":"Food Control"},{"key":"ref_28","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e2112237118","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.2112237118","article-title":"Phase separation in the outer membrane of Escherichia coli","volume":"118","author":"Benn","year":"2021","journal-title":"Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA"},{"key":"ref_29","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"647","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1365-2672.1995.tb03111.x","article-title":"Different inhibition of Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus by D- and L-lactic acid: Effects on lag phase, growth rate and cell yield","volume":"78","author":"Benthin","year":"1995","journal-title":"J. Appl. Bacteriol."},{"key":"ref_30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"87","DOI":"10.1016\/S0065-2911(08)60006-5","article-title":"Organic Acids: Chemistry, Antibacterial Activity and Practical Applications","volume":"Volume 32","author":"Rose","year":"1991","journal-title":"Advances in Microbial Physiology"},{"key":"ref_31","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"69","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1365-2672.1990.tb02550.x","article-title":"Effect of short-chain organic acids on macromolecular synthesis in Escherichia coli","volume":"68","author":"Cherrington","year":"1990","journal-title":"J. Appl. Bacteriol."}],"container-title":["Polymers"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2073-4360\/14\/20\/4399\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,11]],"date-time":"2025-10-11T00:56:36Z","timestamp":1760144196000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2073-4360\/14\/20\/4399"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2022,10,18]]},"references-count":31,"journal-issue":{"issue":"20","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,10]]}},"alternative-id":["polym14204399"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/polym14204399","relation":{},"ISSN":["2073-4360"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2073-4360","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2022,10,18]]}}}