Open Access Conference Proceedings

Infectious diseases are known to be a constant threat to human health also in the beginning of the 21st century. The rapid growth of the human population has led to the agricultural intensification, which has caused an increase in resistant bacterial species in the environment. The aim of the project was to design and verify a theranostic tool combining the diagnostic and therapeutic parts for targeting the bacterial cells. The construct was composed of: A) silver nanoparticles prepared by green synthesis (AgNPsGS); B) antibiotic encapsulated in apoferritin (APO); C) modified magnetic gold nanoparticles (AuNPs). The effect of theranostic nanotransporter on prokaryotic cell culture was model-monitored by altering their growth characteristics (OD monitoring). During the project, 20 various types of AgNPsGS were prepared. The best antibacterial effect (85% growth inhibition of S. aureus) with the minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC50) of 0.4 μg/mL was observed by AgNPsGS4 (Thymus serpyllum L.). SPIONs (20 mg/mL, magnetic AuNPs) were modified with antibody (1 mg/mL IgY) and oxidized graphene sheets (1 mg/mL). The EDC/NHS polymer (2,2 mM EDC, 4 mM NHS, 3 h, 37 °C) was used for binding. The apoferritin (SPIONs/Au/APO) was attached to the SPION/AuNPs. In the SPIONs/Au/APO cavity (12 nm), the antibiotic doxorubicin (2 μM DOXO, the DOXO encapsulation efficiency was around 13% of the applied concentration) was model-sealed. The created SPIONs/Au/AgNPsGS4/APO/DOXO construct was applied to the S. aureus model culture. In the presence of 70 μg of SPIONs/Au/AgNPsGS4/APO/DOXO, a dramatic growth inhibition of S. aureus (95% growth inhibition and 13 mm wide inhibition zone on agar medium) was observed. The biological effect of the nanotransporter lies in ROS (reactive oxygen species) formation, DNA destruction and cell membrane damage.

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