A 3D chemotactic-thermo-promo bacterial hunting system: Programmatic bacterial attract, capture, killing and healing the wound

Although antibiotics have saved many lives, the misuse and overuse of antibiotics have made infectious wound difficult to treat. The antibiotic-free therapy has obtained intense interests. Here we reported that a smart nanohybrid can spontaneously hunt Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a leading opportunistic pathogen causing multidrug resistance, and then kill them. The nanohybrid is composed of L-lysine conjugated antimicrobial peptide HHC-36 on mussel-inspired coating (PDA) to graphene oxide (GO), namely, L-Lys/HHC-36-PDA@GO. We verified, compared and optimized multiple chemoattractants by moving agar plate and quantitative capillary method, and found that L-lysine showed strongest chemotactic effect. Capillary quantitative chemotactic method proves the bacterial chemotactic amount of L-Lys/HHC-36-PDA@GO for 30 min was significant; it can eradicate the captured bacteria using photothermal therapy via NIR. In vivo we found that the bacteria on the wound and within the tissue can be captured and completely eliminated. Due to the outcome of antibacterial activities, L-Lys/HHC-36-PDA@GO showed anti-inflammatory, promoted cell proliferation and vascularization effects in wound healing. This new antibiotic-free nanohybrid to hunt the bacteria, which is promising to avoid tissue damage while killing bacteria and no drug residues in the tissue.

Automated summary

A smart nanohybrid has been developed to hunt and kill multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa using photothermal therapy, with additional anti-inflammatory and pro-cell proliferation effects during wound healing. This antibiotic-free nanohybrid shows promise in avoiding tissue damage and eliminating bacteria without leaving drug residue in the tissue.