Synthesis of carbon quantum dot-poly lactic-co-glycolic acid hybrid nanoparticles for chemo-photothermal therapy against bacterial biofilms

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

  • Zheng Huang
  • Tongchang Zhou
  • Yuan Yuan
  • Sylvia Natalie Klodziska
  • Tao Zheng
  • Claus Sternberg
  • Nielsen, Hanne Mørck
  • Yi Sun
  • Feng Wan

Bacterial biofilm represents a protected mode of bacterial growth that significantly enhances the resistance to antibiotics. Poly lactic-co-glycolic acid (PLGA)-based nanoparticle delivery systems have been intensively investigated to combat the bacterial biofilms-associated infections. However, some drawbacks associated with current PLGA-based nanoformulations (e.g. the relatively low drug loading capability, premature burst release and/or incapability of on-demand release of cargos at the site of action) restrict the transition from the lab research to the clinical applications. One potent strategy to overcome the above-mentioned limitations is exploiting the unique properties of carbon quantum dots (CQDs) and combining CQDs with the conventional PLGA nanoparticles. In the present study, the CQDs were innovatively incorporated into PLGA nanoparticles by using a microfluidic method. The resulting CQD-PLGA hybrid nanoparticles presented good loading capability of azithromycin (a macrolide antibiotic, AZI) and tobramycin (an aminoglycoside antibiotic, TOB), and stimuli-responsive release of the cargos upon laser irradiation. Consequently, AZI-loaded CQD-PLGA hybrid nanoparticles showed chemo-photothermally synergistic anti-biofilm effects against P. aeruginosa biofilms. Additionally, the CQD-PLGA hybrid nanoparticles demonstrated good biocompatibility with the eukaryotic cells. Overall, the proof-of-concept of CQD-PLGA hybrid nanoparticles may open a new possibility in chemophotothermal therapy against bacterial biofilms. (C) 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Original languageEnglish
JournalJournal of Colloid and Interface Science
Volume577
Pages (from-to)66-74
Number of pages9
ISSN0021-9797
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2020

    Research areas

  • Carbon quantum dots, PLGA nanoparticles, Chemo-photothermal therapy, Bacterial biofilms, Azithromycin, Tobramycin, PSEUDOMONAS-AERUGINOSA BIOFILMS, PLGA-BASED NANOPARTICLES, DRUG-DELIVERY, MICROPARTICLES, ANTIBIOTICS, PARADIGM, RELEASE

ID: 248894262