Crystal violet and zinc oxide nanoparticles (CVZnO) were incorporated into medical grade polyurethane polymers by a two-step dipping procedure to prepare novel bactericidal surfaces. The photobactericidal activity of CVZnO polyurethane samples was tested against the Gram-positive bacterium, Staphylococcus aureus and the Gram-negative bacterium, Escherichia coli. Exposure of the polymer samples to white light induced the lethal photosensitisation of both S. aureus and E. coli. In addition, this novel system demonstrated significant antibacterial activity under dark conditions against S. aureus within 2 hours, but more remarkably, a 99.9% reduction in the numbers of E. coli within 4 hours in the dark. This is, to the best of our knowledge, the most potent 'dark-kill' by a light activated antimicrobial agent ever reported.The singlet oxygen quenchers, bovine serum albumin and L-histidine, and an enzyme which catalyses the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide, bovine catalase, were incorporated into the antibacterial assays to determine if the mechanism of E. coli kill involved a Type 1 or a Type 2 light-activated process.

Crystal violet and 2 nm gold nanoparticles were incorporated into medical grade silicone polymers by use of a novel two-step dipping strategy using water and water-acetone mixtures. Optical microscopic examination showed that the optimised polymer incorporated dye close to the polymer surface, with minimal dye encapsulation throughout the polymer bulk. The modified polymer was stable under aqueous conditions with negligible leaching of crystal violet from the polymer into surrounding aqueous solution at 37 uC. Exposure of the modified silicone to low power 635 nm laser light induced the lethal photosensitisation of both Staphylococcus epidermidis and Escherichia coli. Despite the laser used not matching the absorption maximum of the crystal violet-containing silicone samples, the lethal photosensitisation was the highest reported, in terms of bacterial kill per energy dose. Furthermore, surprisingly, some statistically significant dark kill was also noted.

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The objective of this study was to develop angiopoietin-1 (Ang1)-expressing genetically modified human adipose tissue derived stem cells (hASCs) for myocardial therapy. For this, an efficient gene delivery system using recombinant baculovirus complexed with cell penetrating transactivating transcriptional activator TAT peptide/deoxyribonucleic acid nanoparticles (Bac-NP), through ionic interactions, was used. It was hypothesized that the hybrid Bac- NP(Ang1) system can efficiently transduce hASCs and induces favorable therapeutic effects when transplanted in vivo. To evaluate this hypothesis, a rat model with acute myocardial infarction and intramyocardially transplanted Ang1-expressing hASCs (hASC-Ang1), genetically modified by Bac-NP(Ang1), was used. Ang1 is a crucial pro-angiogenic factor for vascular maturation and neovasculogenesis. The released hAng1 from hASC-Ang1 demonstrated profound mitotic and anti-apoptotic activities on endothelial cells and cardiomyocytes. The transplanted hASC-Ang1 group showed higher cell retention compared to hASC and control groups. A significant increase in capillary density and reduction in infarct sizes were noted in the infarcted hearts with hASC-Ang1 treatment compared to infarcted hearts treated with hASC or the untreated group. Furthermore, the hASC-Ang1 group showed significantly higher cardiac performance in echocardiography (ejection fraction 46.28% ± 6.3%, P < 0.001 versus control, n = 8) than the hASC group (36.35% ± 5.7%, P < 0.01, n = 8), 28 days post-infarction. The study identified Bac-NP complex as an advanced gene delivery vehicle for stem cells and demonstrated its potential to treat ischemic heart disease with high therapeutic index for combined stem cell-gene therapy strategy.