Rotello Vincent M
Department of Chemistry, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 710 North Pleasant Street, Amherst, MA 01003, USA.
BME Front. 2023 Apr 24;4:0017. doi: 10.34133/bmef.0017. eCollection 2023.
Multidrug-resistant bacterial infections represent a dire threat to global health. The development of antibiotic resistance in bacteria coupled with the lack of development of new antibiotics is creating infections requiring antibiotics of last resort, and even some infections for which we have no available treatment. Biofilm-based infections present some of the most challenging targets for treatment. The biofilm matrix provides a physical barrier that can impede access of antibiotics and antimicrobials to resident bacteria. The phenotypic diversity found in biofilms further exacerbates the difficulty of eliminating infections, with quiescent "persister" cells evading therapeutics and re-initiating infections after treatment. Nanomaterials provide a tool for combatting these refractory biofilm infections. The distinctive size regime and physical properties of nanomaterials provide them with the capability to penetrate and disrupt biofilms. Nanomaterials can also access antimicrobial pathways inaccessible to conventional antimicrobials, providing a synergistic strategy for treating biofilm infections. This review will summarize key challenges presented by antibiotic resistance and biofilms when treating infection and provide selected examples of how nanomaterials are being used to address these challenges.
多重耐药细菌感染对全球健康构成了严峻威胁。细菌中抗生素耐药性的发展，再加上新抗生素研发的匮乏，导致出现了需要使用最后手段抗生素治疗的感染，甚至有些感染我们尚无可用的治疗方法。基于生物膜的感染是一些最具挑战性的治疗靶点。生物膜基质提供了一个物理屏障，可阻碍抗生素和抗菌剂接触驻留细菌。生物膜中发现的表型多样性进一步加剧了消除感染的难度，静止的“持留菌”细胞可逃避治疗，并在治疗后重新引发感染。纳米材料为对抗这些难治性生物膜感染提供了一种工具。纳米材料独特的尺寸范围和物理特性使其具备穿透和破坏生物膜的能力。纳米材料还可进入传统抗菌剂无法触及的抗菌途径，为治疗生物膜感染提供了一种协同策略。本综述将总结治疗感染时抗生素耐药性和生物膜带来的关键挑战，并提供一些纳米材料用于应对这些挑战的实例。
