Advances in bioinspired design principles and nanomaterials have led to tremendous progress in autonomously moving synthetic nano/micromotors with diverse functionalities in different environments. However, a significant gap remains in moving nano/micromotors from test tubes to living organisms for treating diseases with high efficacy. Here we present the first, to our knowledge, in vivo therapeutic micromotors application for active drug delivery to treat gastric bacterial infection in a mouse model using clarithromycin as a model antibiotic and Helicobacter pylori infection as a model disease. The propulsion of drug-loaded magnesium micromotors in gastric media enables effective antibiotic delivery, leading to significant bacteria burden reduction in the mouse stomach compared with passive drug carriers, with no apparent toxicity. Moreover, while the drug-loaded micromotors reach similar therapeutic efficacy as the positive control of free drug plus proton pump inhibitor, the micromotors can function without proton pump inhibitors because of their built-in proton depletion function associated with their locomotion.

We report a new approach to selectively delivering antimicrobials to the sites of bacterial infections by utilizing bacterial toxins to activate drug release from gold nanoparticle-stabilized phospholipid liposomes. The binding of chitosan modified gold nanoparticles to the surface of liposomes can effectively prevent them from fusing with one another and from undesirable payload release in regular storage or physiological environments. However, once these protected liposomes "see" bacteria that secrete toxins, the toxins will insert into the liposome membranes and form pores, through which the encapsulated therapeutic agents are released. The released drugs subsequently impose antimicrobial effects on the toxin-secreting bacteria. Using methicillinresistant Staphycoccus aureus (MRSA) as a model bacterium and vacomycin as a model anti-MRSA antibiotic, we demonstrate that the synthesized gold nanoparticle-stabilized liposomes can completely release the encapsulated vacomycin within 24 h in the presence of MRSA bacteria and lead to inhibition of MRSA growth as effective as an equal amount of vacomycin loaded liposomes (without nanoparticle stabilizers) and free vacomycin. This bacterial toxin enabled drug release from nanoparticle-stabilized liposomes provides a new, safe and effective approach for the treatment of bacterial infections. This technique can be broadly applied to treat a variety of infections caused by bacteria that secrete pore-forming toxins.

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Background Signaling defects in the Toll-like receptor (TLR) pathway, such as interleukin-1 receptor–associated kinase 4 deficiency, highlight the prominence of TLR signaling in the defense against bacterial disease. Because myeloid differentiation primary response gene 88 (MyD88) can transduce signals from almost all TLRs, we studied its role in otitis media (OM), the most common upper respiratory tract bacterial infectious disease in young children. Methods The middle ears (MEs) of wild-type (WT) and MyD88−/− mice were inoculated with nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHi). ME infection and inflammation were monitored for 21 days after surgery. Bone marrow–derived macrophages from WT and MyD88−/− mice were infected with NTHi in vitro to assess their interaction with bacteria. Results In WT mice, MyD88 expression was detected in the ME stroma at baseline. MyD88−/− mice displayed prolonged ME mucosal thickening and delayed recruitment of neutrophils and macrophages. Although WT mice cleared NTHi within 5 days, viable NTHi were isolated for up to 21 days in MyD88−/− mice. The interaction between macrophages and NTHi was significantly altered in MyD88−/− mice. Conclusions In this mouse model, MyD88-mediated signaling was important for clearance of infection and resolution of inflammation in acute OM due to NTHi. The role played by innate signaling in children susceptible to chronic or recurrent OM deserves further study.

Anti‐adhesion therapies interfere with the bacterial adhesion to the host and thus avoid direct disruption of bacterial cycles for killing, which may alleviate resistance development. Herein, an anti‐adhesion nanomedicine platform is made by wrapping synthetic polymeric cores with bacterial outer membranes. The resulting bacterium‐mimicking nanoparticles (denoted “OM‐NPs”) compete with source bacteria for binding to the host. The “top‐down” fabrication of OM‐NPs avoids the identification of the adhesins and bypasses the design of agonists targeting these adhesins. In this study, OM‐NPs are made with the membrane of Helicobacter pylori and shown to bind with gastric epithelial cells (AGS cells). Treatment of AGS cells with OM‐NPs reduces H. pylori adhesion and such anti‐adhesion efficacy is dependent on OM‐NP concentration and its dosing sequence.