MOE Key Laboratory of Macromolecule Synthesis and Functionalization of Ministry of Education, Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University , Hangzhou 310027, China.
School of Ophthalmology & Optometry, Eye Hospital, Wenzhou Medical University , Wenzhou 325027, China.
ACS Nano. 2017 Sep 26;11(9):9330-9339. doi: 10.1021/acsnano.7b04731. Epub 2017 Aug 17.
Biofilms that contribute to the persistent bacterial infections pose serious threats to global public health, mainly due to their resistance to antibiotics penetration and escaping innate immune attacks by phagocytes. Here, we report a kind of surface-adaptive gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) exhibiting (1) a self-adaptive target to the acidic microenvironment of biofilm, (2) an enhanced photothermal ablation of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) biofilm under near-infrared (NIR) light irradiation, and (3) no damage to the healthy tissues around the biofilm. Originally, AuNPs were readily prepared by surface modification with pH-responsive mixed charged zwitterionic self-assembled monolayers consisting of weak electrolytic 11-mercaptoundecanoic acid (HS-C-COOH) and strong electrolytic (10-mercaptodecyl)trimethylammonium bromide (HS-C-N). The mixed charged zwitterion-modified AuNPs showed fast pH-responsive transition from negative charge to positive charge, which enabled the AuNPs to disperse well in healthy tissues (pH ∼7.4), while quickly presenting strong adherence to negatively charged bacteria surfaces in MRSA biofilm (pH ∼5.5). Simultaneous AuNP aggregation within the MRSA biofilm enhanced the photothermal ablation of MRSA biofilm under NIR light irradiation. The surrounding healthy tissues showed no damage because the dispersed AuNPs had no photothermal effect under NIR light. In view of the above advantages as well as the straightforward preparation, AuNPs developed in this work may find potential applications as a useful antibacterial agent in the areas of healthcare.
生物膜导致的持续性细菌感染对全球公共健康构成严重威胁,主要是因为它们能抵抗抗生素渗透,并逃避吞噬细胞的先天免疫攻击。在这里,我们报告了一种表面自适应的金纳米粒子(AuNPs),具有以下特点:(1)自适应的生物膜酸性微环境靶向性;(2)在近红外(NIR)光照射下,增强耐甲氧西林金黄色葡萄球菌(MRSA)生物膜的光热消融;(3)对生物膜周围的健康组织没有损伤。最初,AuNPs 是通过表面修饰容易制备的,表面修饰使用由弱电解质 11-巯基十一酸(HS-C-COOH)和强电解质(10-巯基癸基)三甲基溴化铵(HS-C-N)组成的 pH 响应混合带电两性离子自组装单层。带混合电荷的两性离子修饰的 AuNPs 表现出快速的 pH 响应从负电荷到正电荷的转变,这使得 AuNPs 在健康组织(pH ∼7.4)中很好地分散,而在 MRSA 生物膜(pH ∼5.5)中迅速呈现出对带负电荷的细菌表面的强烈粘附。同时,在 NIR 光照射下,MRSA 生物膜内的 AuNP 聚集增强了对 MRSA 生物膜的光热消融。由于分散的 AuNPs 在 NIR 光下没有光热效应,因此周围的健康组织没有损伤。鉴于上述优势以及简单的制备方法,本工作中开发的 AuNPs 可能在医疗保健领域作为一种有用的抗菌剂找到潜在的应用。