State Key Laboratory of Solidification Processing, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Northwestern Polytechnical University, 127 Youyi Xilu, Xi'an, 710072, P. R. China.
School of Engineering and Materials Science, Queen Mary University of London, Mile End Road, London, E1 4NS, UK.
Adv Healthc Mater. 2024 Apr;13(11):e2303686. doi: 10.1002/adhm.202303686. Epub 2024 Feb 5.
Effective treatment of drug-resistant bacteria infected wound has been a longstanding challenge for healthcare systems. In particular, the development of novel strategies for controllable delivery and smart release of antimicrobial agents is greatly demanded. Herein, the design of biodegradable microcapsules carrying bactericidal gold nanoclusters (AuNCs) as an attractive platform for the effective treatment of drug-resistant bacteria infective wounds is reported. AuNC capsules are fabricated via the well-controlled layer-by-layer strategy, which possess intrinsic near-infrared fluorescence and good biocompatibility. Importantly, these AuNC capsules exhibit strong, specific antibacterial activity toward both S. aureus and methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA). Further mechanistic studies by fluorescence confocal imaging and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry reveal that these AuNC capsules will be degraded in the S. aureus environment rather than E. coli, which then controllably release the loaded cationic AuNCs to exert antibacterial effect. Consequently, these AuNC capsules show remarkable therapeutic effect for the MRSA infected wound on a mouse model, and intrinsic fluorescence property of AuNC capsules enables in situ visualization of wound dressings. This study suggests the great potential of microcapsule-based platform as smart carriers of bactericidal agents for the effective treatment of drug-resistant bacterial infection as well as other therapeutic purposes.
有效治疗耐药菌感染伤口一直是医疗系统面临的长期挑战。特别是，人们迫切需要开发新型的可控药物输送和智能释放抗菌剂的策略。在此，报道了一种载有杀菌金纳米簇（AuNCs）的可生物降解微胶囊，作为治疗耐药菌感染伤口的有效平台。AuNC 胶囊是通过精密控制的层层策略制备的，具有内在的近红外荧光和良好的生物相容性。重要的是，这些 AuNC 胶囊对金黄色葡萄球菌和耐甲氧西林金黄色葡萄球菌（MRSA）均表现出强烈、特异的抗菌活性。通过荧光共聚焦成像和电感耦合等离子体质谱的进一步机制研究表明，这些 AuNC 胶囊将在金黄色葡萄球菌环境中降解，而不是在大肠杆菌中降解，然后将负载的阳离子 AuNCs 可控释放以发挥抗菌作用。因此，这些 AuNC 胶囊在 MRSA 感染的小鼠模型伤口上显示出显著的治疗效果，AuNC 胶囊的固有荧光特性使得伤口敷料能够进行原位可视化。这项研究表明，基于微胶囊的平台作为杀菌剂的智能载体，具有治疗耐药菌感染以及其他治疗用途的巨大潜力。
