Nano-vehicles give new lease of life to existing antimicrobials

Abstract

Antibiotic resistance has become one of the greatest challenges for modern medicine, and new approaches for the treatment of bacterial infections are urgently needed to avoid widespread vulnerability again to infections that have so far been easily treatable with existing drugs. Among the many approaches investigated to overcome this challenge is the use of engineered nanostructures for the precise and targeted delivery of existing antimicrobial agents in a fashion that will potentiate their effect. This idea leans on lessons learned from pioneering research in cancer, where the targeted delivery of anti-cancer drugs to mammalian cells has been a topic for some time. In particular, new research has demonstrated that nanomaterials can be functionalised with active antimicrobials and, in some cases, with targeting molecules that potentiate the efficiency of the antimicrobials. In this mini-review, we summarise results that demonstrate the potential for nanoparticles, dendrimers and DNA nanostructures for use in antimicrobial delivery. We consider material aspects of the delivery vehicles and ways in which they can be functionalised with antibiotics and antimicrobial peptides, and we review evidence for their efficacy to kill bacteria both in vitro and in vivo. We also discuss the advantages and limitations of these materials and highlight the benefits of DNA nanostructures specifically for their versatile potential in the present context.

Silver Nanoparticles: Bactericidal and Mechanistic Approach against Drug Resistant Pathogens

“…The composition was created so that the penicillin would remain bound to the dendrimers and could effectively deactivate the close surrounding of bacteria [ 236 ]. Choi et al tested dendrimers-based vancomycin conjugates, and these nanostructures bound were tested against vancomycin-resistant and non-resistant S. aureus with nano-molar affinity [ 237 ]. A recent study carried out by G. Jiang et al showed that heterofunctionalization poly-(amido-amine) (PAMAM) dendrimers that were conjugated with vancomycin and further incorporated with AgNPs showed a significant reduction in bacterial colonies of S.aureusstrains [ 238 ].…”

Host Immune Regulation in Implant-Associated Infection (IAI): What Does the Current Evidence Provide Us to Prevent or Treat IAI?

“…Targeted delivery of anticancer drugs to target cells in cancer therapy research has inspired more precise and targeted delivery of existing antimicrobial agents through the use of engineered nanostructured materials which can bypass the barriers that prevent traditional pharmacological approaches [ 115 , 116 ]. Some recent studies involving biofilm elimination have shown that nanoparticles can kill bacteria directly or release biocides that disrupt biofilm formation, thereby reducing microbial survival [ 117 , 118 ].…”

Preparation and Characterization of Aminoglycoside-Loaded Chitosan/Tripolyphosphate/Alginate Microspheres against E. coli

“…Drug delivery vehicles have been widely employed to encapsulate and deliver conventional antibiotics, improving their therapeutic index while minimizing their adverse effects [ 5 , 6 , 7 ]. These have shown unprecedented advantages such as enhancement of the effectiveness of existent antibiotics, by enhancing the physicochemical properties and stability of antibiotics and prolongation of antibiotic release, in addition to the capability of targeted delivery to the site of infection as an effective antimicrobial therapy [ 8 , 9 , 10 ].…”