Pirouz Arash, Papakonstantinou Ioannis, Michalska Martyna
Manufacturing Futures Lab, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University College London, London, United Kingdom.
Photonic Innovations Lab, Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, University College London, London, United Kingdom.
Front Chem. 2024 Jan 29;12:1354755. doi: 10.3389/fchem.2024.1354755. eCollection 2024.
Whilst it is now well recognized that some natural surfaces such as seemingly fragile insect wings possess extraordinary antimicrobial properties, a quest to engineer similar nanopatterned surfaces (NPSs) is ongoing. The stake is high as biofouling impacts critical infrastructure leading to massive social and economic burden with an antimicrobial resistance (AMR) issue at the forefront. AMR is one of the most imminent health challenges the world is facing today. Here, in the effort to find more sustainable solutions, the NPSs are proposed as highly promising technology as their antimicrobial activity arises from the topographical features, which could be realized on multiple material surfaces. To fully exploit these potentials however, it is crucial to mechanistically understand the underlying killing pathways. Thus far, several mechanisms have been proposed, yet they all have one thing in common. The antimicrobial process is initiated with bacteria contacting nanopatterns, which then imposes mechanical stress onto bacterial cell wall. Hence, the activity is called "mechano-bactericidal". From this point on, however, the suggested mechanisms start to diverge partly due to our limited understanding of force interactions at the interface. The aim of this mini review is to analyze the state-of-the-art in proposed killing mechanisms by categorizing them based on the characteristics of their driving force. We also highlight the current gaps and possible future directions in investigating the mechanisms, particularly by shifting towards quantification of forces at play and more elaborated biochemical assays, which can aid validating the current hypotheses.
虽然现在已经充分认识到一些天然表面，如看似脆弱的昆虫翅膀，具有非凡的抗菌特性，但人们仍在努力设计类似的纳米图案表面（NPS）。 stakes很高，因为生物污垢会影响关键基础设施，导致巨大的社会和经济负担，其中抗菌耐药性（AMR）问题最为突出。AMR是当今世界面临的最紧迫的健康挑战之一。在这里，为了找到更可持续的解决方案，NPS被认为是一种非常有前途的技术，因为它们的抗菌活性源于地形特征，可以在多种材料表面实现。然而，要充分发挥这些潜力，关键是要从机理上理解潜在的杀灭途径。到目前为止，已经提出了几种机制，但它们都有一个共同点。抗菌过程始于细菌与纳米图案接触，然后纳米图案对细菌细胞壁施加机械应力。因此，这种活性被称为“机械杀菌”。然而，从这一点开始，由于我们对界面处力相互作用的理解有限，所提出的机制开始出现分歧。本综述的目的是通过根据其驱动力的特征对所提出的杀灭机制进行分类，来分析其最新进展。我们还强调了目前在研究这些机制方面的差距和可能的未来方向，特别是通过转向对作用的力进行量化以及更详细的生化分析，这有助于验证当前的假设。
