Au–ZnO Conjugated Black Phosphorus as a Near-Infrared Light-Triggering and Recurrence-Suppressing Nanoantibiotic Platform against Staphylococcus aureus

Abstract

Antibiotic therapy is the gold standard for bacterial infections treatment. However, the rapid increase in multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacterial infections and its recent use for secondary bacterial infections in many COVID-19 patients has considerably weakened its treatment efficacy. These shortcomings motivated researchers to develop new antibacterial materials, such as nanoparticle-based antibacterial platform with the ability to increase the chances of killing MDR strains and prevent their drug resistance. Herein, we report a new black phosphorus (BP)-based non-damaging near-infrared light-responsive platform conjugated with ZnO and Au nanoparticles as a synergistic antibacterial agent against Staphylococcus aureus species. First, BP nanosheets containing Au nanoparticles were assembled in situ with the ZnO nanoparticles prepared by a low-temperature solution synthesis method. Subsequently, the antibacterial activities of the resulting Au–ZnO–BP nanocomposite against the non-resistant, methicillin-resistant, and erythromycin-resistant S. aureus species were determined, after its photothermal efficacy was assessed. The synthesized nanocomposite exhibited excellent anti-S. aureus activity and good photothermal characteristics. The non-resistant S. aureus species did not produce drug-resistant bacteria after the treatment of multiple consecutive passages under the pressure of the proposed nanoantibiotic, but rapidly developed resistance to erythromycin. This work clearly demonstrates the excellent photothermal antibacterial properties of Au–ZnO–BP nanocomposite against the MDR S. aureus species.

Sol–Gel Synthesis of Dy-Substituted Ni0.4Cu0.2Zn0.4(Fe2-xDyx)O4 Nano Spinel Ferrites and Evaluation of Their Antibacterial, Antifungal, Antibiofilm and Anticancer Potentialities for Biomedical Application

“…Another study found that when MDR S. aureus is exposed to near-infrared light, Au–ZnO coupled with black phosphorus suppresses its growth. 17 Cho et al 18 reported the antibacterial activity of nickel doped zinc oxide conjugated black phosphorus nanocomposite and its synergistic activity with polymyxin B against polymyxin-resistant E. coli carrying colistin resistance gene mcr-1 and found that the nanocomposite was biocompatible with HEK293 cells and polymyxin B. Several studies have been conducted in-depth to explore the unusual characteristics of Ni-Cu ferrites and it was concluded that these characteristics are due to favoured distributions of Fe 3+ and Fe 2+ cations into the tetrahedral and octahedral sub-lattice sites in the crystal structure.…”

Biomimetic Nanoparticles Coated with Bacterial Outer Membrane Vesicles as a New-Generation Platform for Biomedical Applications

“…Gold NPs (Au NPs) have been successfully evaluated to demonstrate their non-toxicity, enhancement of immunogenic activity, antioxidant activity, and gene delivery owing to their unique physical and chemical properties [96]. Additionally, Au NPs are well known as excellent antibacterial agents among NPs [97]. Therefore, predictably, researchers use Au NPs in the coating with cell membranes for various biomedical applications.…”

Physically Switchable Antimicrobial Surfaces and Coatings: General Concept and Recent Achievements

“…Direct utilization of this approach for common light-absorbing materials requires high power of the light illumination for the production of a sufficient amount of heat and material activation in a reasonable time. To overcome this drawback, several strategies can be mentioned, including the decrease in thermodynamic barriers required for heat-induced coatings phase transformation, or light "concentration" near the absorbing surfaces with the utilization of so-called surface plasmon excitation [90][91][92][93][94]. In the first case, the coating material is initially "frozen/prepared" in a thermodynamically unstable state.…”