Screening of Antimicrobial Peptides by Capillary Electrophoresis with a Photopolymerizable Bacterial Membrane Coating and Its Application in Wound Healing

Wound infections are a major complication in the wound healing process. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) possess broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity, but traditional screening methods are inefficient and costly. In this study, a functional coated capillary electrophoresis system was constructed using diazo resin and bacterial biofilms, ultimately leading to the successful identification of RKWFWW. RKWFWW exhibited excellent antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), Escherichia coli (E. coli), and Candida albicans (C. albicans). RKWFWW disrupts the cell wall structures of bacteria and fungi and is unlikely to induce resistance in these strains. Finally, RKWFWW was loaded into gelatin (GA) and poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) hydrogels to produce a composite dressing. This dressing significantly shortened the healing time of the infected wounds. In summary, this study provides a new method for the rapid screening of AMPs and offers new insights into the development of novel AMP dressings.