Nanoparticle approaches against bacterial infections

Abstract

Despite the wide success of antibiotics, the treatment of bacterial infection still faces significant challenges, particularly the emergence of antibiotic resistance. As a result, nanoparticle drug delivery platforms including liposomes, polymeric nanoparticles, dendrimers, and various inorganic nanoparticles have been increasingly exploited to enhance the therapeutic effectiveness of existing antibiotics. This review focuses on areas where nanoparticle approaches hold significant potential to advance the treatment of bacterial infection. These areas include targeted antibiotic delivery, environmentally responsive antibiotic delivery, combinatorial antibiotic delivery, nanoparticle-enabled antibacterial vaccination, and nanoparticle-based bacterial detection. In each area we highlight the innovative antimicrobial nanoparticle platforms and review their progress made against bacterial infections.

Polymeric nanoparticles – a novel solution for delivery of antimicrobial agents

“…Passive targeting is based on particle size and the ability of PNPs to form pores, which disrupt the structure of the pathogen membrane [23,36,37]. Recent studies indicate that conjugation of lectin-specific ligands on the PNP surface showed enhanced binding affinity to the carbohydrate receptors on the Helicobacter pylori membrane [38].…”

“…In another study Jain et al used concanavalin-A (Con-A) decorated elastin as a clarithromycin delivery system for H. pylori eradication [39]. In active targeting other homing molecules including specific antibodies and aptamer bacteriophage proteins have been used for nanoparticle surface functionalization resulting in targeted delivery platforms effective against different types of bacterial infections [37,40,41]. Targeting molecules can also be used for sensitive and specific identification strategies for detection of pathogens such as Staphylococcus aureus, Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Escherichia coli via aptamer recognition and fluorescently tagged silica nanoparticles [42][43][44].…”

Liposomal systems as carriers for bioactive compounds

“…Thus, liposomes are promising delivery systems mainly because of their biocompatibility, biodegradability and low toxicity in the human body (Benech et al 2002;Saddi et al 2008;Shehata et al 2008;Akbarzadeh et al 2013;Gao et al 2014). Any compound, irrespective of its solubility, can be entrapped inside a liposome, resulting in a slow degradation during transport to the target, minimal side-effects and greater stability (Ghalandarlaki et al 2014).…”

Engineering Microbial Physiology with Synthetic Polymers: Cationic Polymers Induce Biofilm Formation inVibrio choleraeand Downregulate the Expression of Virulence Genes

“…In particular novel approaches that can replace or enhance current antimicrobials are highly desired. [3][4][5] Polymeric materials have often been postulated as alternatives in these areas, either as delivery vehicles for antimicrobials, 6,7 or as novel antimicrobial polymers, [8][9][10][11] and materials that can interfere with microbial adhesion. [12][13][14][15] Polymeric materials are especially attractive in these applications because of their multivalency, ease of manufacturing and the potential to precisely control polymer length and composition.…”