Curcumin-loaded graphene oxide flakes as an effective antibacterial system against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus

Abstract

Methicillin-resistant (MRSA) is responsible for serious hospital infections worldwide and represents a global public health problem. Curcumin, the major constituent of turmeric, is effective against MRSA but only at cytotoxic concentrations or in combination with antibiotics. The major issue in curcumin-based therapies is the poor solubility of this hydrophobic compound and the cytotoxicity at high doses. In this paper, we describe the efficacy of a composite nanoparticle made of curcumin (CU) and graphene oxide (GO), hereafter GOCU, in MRSA infection treatment. GO is a nanomaterial with a large surface area and high drug-loading capacity. GO has also antibacterial properties due mainly to a mechanical cutting of the bacterial membranes. For this physical mechanism of action, microorganisms are unlikely to develop resistance against this nanomaterial. In this work, we report the capacity of GO to support and stabilize curcumin molecules in a water environment and we demonstrate the efficacy of GOCU against MRSA at a concentration below 2 µg ml. Further, GOCU displays low toxicity on fibroblasts cells and avoids haemolysis of red blood cells. Our results indicate that GOCU is a promising nanomaterial against antibiotic-resistant MRSA.

Graphene Oxide-Linezolid Combination as Potential New Anti-Tuberculosis Treatment

“…GO (4 mg/mL) was purchased from GrapheneA (Spain). GO size was evaluated by atomic force microscopy (Nanowizard II JPK Instruments AG, Berlin, Germany) as previously reported [7] and GO hydrodynamic properties were measured by dynamic light scattering (DLS) using Zetasizer Nano ZS (Malvern, Herrenberg, Germany), as previously reported [18]. Drug-conjugated GO was prepared using a fixed GO concentration and incubating with drug (AMK, INH or LZD) diluted in ultrapure water.…”

“…In the field of microbiology, it has been largely demonstrated that the CNMs' unique structural and chemical properties can be exploited to change interactions between cells and microorganisms. In particular, graphene oxide (GO), the bidimensional carbon allotrope enriched in oxygen functionalities, interacts and disrupts bacteria structures, and it has been proposed as an antibacterial nanomaterial, both for medical device surface coating and systemic administration purposes [4][5][6][7][8].…”

“…For these reasons, new therapeutic delivery devices are urgently needed for TB treatment [13], and GO composites could potentiate the efficacy of anti-TB drugs, as already demonstrated for other antimicrobial compounds [4,7].…”

Graphene Oxide Nano-Concentrators Selectively Modulate RNA Trapping According to Metal Cations in Solution

“…Graphene oxide (4 mg/ml) was purchased from GrapheneA (Spain) and diluted in MilliQ RNA and DNA free water for further experiments. GO size and thickness were evaluated by atomic force microscopy (AFM) (Nanowizard II JPK Instruments AG, Berlin, Germany) as previously reported (Bugli et al, 2018). GO hydrodynamic properties and surface charge were measured by dynamic light scattering (DLS) and zeta potential analysis by means of Zetasizer Nano ZS (Malvern, Herrenberg, Germany) as previously reported (Palmieri et al, 2019).…”

The biomedical applications of graphene

“…Linklater et al [2] in their paper illustrate the processes involved in bactericidal mechanisms, which are not well established at present. This is followed by a paper by Bugli et al [3], who illustrate that curcumin-loaded graphene derivatives can provide the nano-morphology in fighting methicillin-resistant bacteria. Graphene oxide is one of the most used and leading graphene derivatives and, in their paper, Verre et al [4] vividly demonstrate the effects of graphene oxide substrates in increasing gene expression of biomolecules.…”