VALENCIA, July 19 (EUROPA PRESS) –
Research staff from the Oral Microbiome group of the Foundation for the Promotion of Health and Biomedical Research of the Valencian Community (Fisabio), an organization dependent on the Conselleria de Santitat Universal i Salut Pública, has designed a self-propelled nanoparticle that breaks a natural barrier, called biofilm or biofilm, which creates some pathogens and protects them from drugs, making them more resistant to their treatment.
The innovation has been developed together with the Interuniversity Institute for Molecular Recognition Research and Technological Development (IDM) of the Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV), the CIBER of Bioengineering, Biomaterials and Nanomedicine (CIBER-BBN) and the CIBER of Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP) of the Carlos III Institute of Madrid, as reported by Fisabio.
This work, published in the journal Chemistry of Materials, consists of the design and application of smart nanoparticles that contain an antibiotic inside and release it selectively. The research staff have added to this nanoparticle a nanomotor that gives it movement and a protein that acts as a ‘drill’ when it comes into contact with the biofilm, breaking it and allowing the nanodevice to reach the deepest layers.
In this way, the nanoparticle comes into contact with the pathogen, at which time the antibiotic it contains is released, destroying up to 80% of the biomass in the case of the biofilm generated by the bacterium Staphylococcos aureus (S. aureus). ). The nanodevice thus manages to kill bacteria, the same sources have indicated.
Currently, many infections are due to this microbial ability to adhere to body surfaces or medical devices and protect themselves inside a matrix generated by the bacteria or fungus itself, which is made up of DNA, carbohydrates and proteins, forming the so-called biofilms.
These biofilms act as a physical barrier that hinders the penetration and diffusion of antibiotics or other drugs and, as a consequence, the concentration of the drug that reaches the pathogens is insufficient for their elimination. This causes an increase in the concentrations of antibiotics or antifungals used to treat these infectious diseases, as well as the appearance of resistance.
The misuse and overuse of antimicrobials is a driver of the development of drug-resistant pathogens, one of the most serious global public health problems today, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Ramón Martínez-Máñez, scientific director of the CIBER-BBN and member of the IDM at the UPV, has commented that “this fact already causes high rates of morbidity and mortality, particularly in immunocompromised patients”. “So, this innovation represents an advance in the fight against this problem, since it allows a more effective administration of the antibiotic or antifungal and avoids having to make excessive or inappropriate use of these drugs,” he added.
For his part, Álex Mira, head of Fisabio’s Oral Microbiome research group, has assured that “in this context of multi-resistant bacteria, the design of new approaches for the treatment of biofilm infections is of vital importance. That is why it is essential to find new tools like these to combat bacterial and fungal infections, among which there are, in fact, some very common ones such as candidiasis, endodontic infections or many that occur in medical implants”.
One of the first applications in which this innovation has been implemented is in the eradication of biofilms created by the S. aureus bacterium, since it is one of the main pathogens responsible for chronic infections associated with biofilms in tissues such as the skin, airways and also in medical devices such as catheters and implants.
The team has patented the use of this type of nanoparticles. The development of this technology against biofilms has been financed by POLISABIO grants in collaboration between FISABIO and the UPV, the Valencian Innovation Agency (AVI) and by CIBER-BBN–CIBERESP grants.
