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Engineered biosynthesis of hyaluronic acid in Corynebacterium glutamicum and green synthesis of HA-silver nanocomposites for advanced antimicrobial wound dressings
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  • Published: 09 February 2026

Engineered biosynthesis of hyaluronic acid in Corynebacterium glutamicum and green synthesis of HA-silver nanocomposites for advanced antimicrobial wound dressings

  • Mahdieh Nadali Hazaveh1,2,
  • Saeed Salehi3,
  • Marjan Talebi4,5,
  • Rouzbeh Almasi Ghale2,
  • Hamid Zilouei1 &
  • …
  • Fatemeh Tabandeh2 

Scientific Reports , Article number:  (2026) Cite this article

  • 849 Accesses

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We are providing an unedited version of this manuscript to give early access to its findings. Before final publication, the manuscript will undergo further editing. Please note there may be errors present which affect the content, and all legal disclaimers apply.

Subjects

  • Biochemistry
  • Biological techniques
  • Biotechnology
  • Chemistry
  • Materials science
  • Microbiology
  • Nanoscience and technology

Abstract

Antibiotic resistance, a growing global challenge, is predicted to cause millions of deaths in the near future. Innovative antibacterial wound dressings loaded with natural substances that have restorative effects can serve as alternatives conventional medicine. This research aims to investigate the antibacterial properties of electrospun nanofibers containing different proportions of chitosan, collagen, and hyaluronic acid-silver nanocomposite. Silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) were synthesized via a green, solvent‑free method, with hyaluronic acid (HA) obtained from recombinant Corynebacterium glutamicum fermentation serving as the natural reducing agent. with its production optimized using a full factorial design, resulting in a 26% yield increase under conditions of 10 g/L yeast extract, 20 g/L soy protein, and 400 mg/L MgSO₄. The purity of HA obtained from microbial fermentation was measured by Fourier-Transform Infrared spectroscopy. Silver nitrate concentrations of 0.01, 0.1, and 1 M were considered to synthesize nanoparticle precursors. Spectrophotometry and Dynamic Light Scattering analyses showed that 0.1 M AgNO3 produced nanoparticles with an average size of 98.5 nm. Scanning Electron Microscopy revealed that the nanofibers had a coherent and uniform structure. Antibacterial activity was evaluated against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. Nanofibers with 1:1:1 and 0.5:1:1 ratios (HA-Ag: collagen: chitosan) inhibited S. aureus growth, producing inhibition zones of 1.4 cm and 1.0 cm, respectively, but showed no effect against E. coli. Cytotoxicity assessment using L929 fibroblast cells through MTT assay indicated cell viabilities of approximately 85% and 70% for the active formulations, suggesting acceptable biocompatibility. Overall, the developed nanocomposite-loaded nanofibers show potential for application against antibiotic-resistant wound infections caused by Gram-positive bacteria.

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Data availability

The additional data are provided in Supplementary material S1.

Abbreviations

HA:

Hyaluronic acid or Hyaluronan

HA-Ag:

Hyaluronic acid- AgNO3

AgNPs:

AgNO3 Nanoparticles

CTAB:

Cetyltrimethylammonium Bromide

DLS:

Dynamic light scattering analysis

SEM:

Scanning Electron Microscopy

FTIR:

Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy

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Funding

This work was finantially supported by the National Institute of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (NIGEB project No. 643) and the Iran National Science Foundation (INSF project No. 4024643).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical Engineering, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan, 84156-83111, Iran

    Mahdieh Nadali Hazaveh & Hamid Zilouei

  2. Department of Energy and Environmental Biotechnology, National Institute of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (NIGEB), 14965/161, Tehran, Iran

    Mahdieh Nadali Hazaveh, Rouzbeh Almasi Ghale & Fatemeh Tabandeh

  3. Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Chemical Engineering, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, 4838-14155, Iran

    Saeed Salehi

  4. Department of Pharmacognosy, TeMS.C., Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

    Marjan Talebi

  5. Herbal Pharmacology Research Center, TeMS.C., Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

    Marjan Talebi

Authors
  1. Mahdieh Nadali Hazaveh
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Contributions

Mahdieh Nadali Hazaveh: Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Validation, Visualization, Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing. Saeed Salehi: Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Visualization, Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing. Marjan Talebi: Investigation, Methodology, Visualization, Writing - review & editing. Rouzbeh Almasi Ghale: Methodology, Investigation, Visualization, Writing - review & editing. Hamid Zilouei: Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Methodology, Project administration, Supervision, Validation, Writing - review & editing. Fatemeh Tabandeh: Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Funding acquisition, Methodology, Project administration, Supervision, Validation, Writing - review & editing.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Hamid Zilouei or Fatemeh Tabandeh.

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Nadali Hazaveh, M., Salehi, S., Talebi, M. et al. Engineered biosynthesis of hyaluronic acid in Corynebacterium glutamicum and green synthesis of HA-silver nanocomposites for advanced antimicrobial wound dressings. Sci Rep (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-39148-5

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  • Received: 15 September 2025

  • Accepted: 03 February 2026

  • Published: 09 February 2026

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-39148-5

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Keywords

  • Electrospun nanofibers
  • Hyaluronic acid
  • Antibiotic resistance
  • Nanocomposite
  • Wound healing
  • Corynebacterium glutamicum
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