GLOBAL CHALLENGES

Nanotech Breakthrough for Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria

Rebecca Kutzer-Rice | Date: 04-06-11 | Comments

A new microbial agent can be injected into the body to treat drug-resistant bacteria, like MRSA. The breakthrough could someday be commercially added to consumer products like lotion and deodorant.

Recently, nanotechnology advances allowed for the construction of a paintlike coating that could kill antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Now, similar technology is behind the creation of an injectable way to kill such microbes.

In creating the tool, researchers from the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology and IBM applied principles used in semiconductor manufacturing. The new nanostructures work like magnets: They are physically attracted to infected cells. This allows them to selectively destroy bacteria without harming healthy cells.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a common and dangerous microbe that does not respond to normal antibiotic treatments. The bacteria, easily contracted in crowded places like gyms, schools and hospitals, was the cause of 95,000 serious infections and nearly 19,000 hospital stay-related deaths in 2005.

According to researchers, several problems exist in treating MRSA. Current treatments leave the bacteria's cell walls largely undamaged, rendering the microorganisms essentially resistant to the drugs. Furthermore, extremely high doses of antibiotics are needed, which can make patients even sicker.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is the cause of thousands of deaths a year because it resists most antibiotic treatments.

The new nanotech agents break down a cell's wall and membrane, allowing antibiotics to penetrate and destroy it.

"The number of bacteria in the palm of a hand outnumbers the entire human population," said Dr. James Hedrick, Advanced Organic Materials Scientist at IBM Research in Almaden, according to a statement. "With this discovery we've been able to leverage decades of materials development traditionally used for semiconductor technologies to create an entirely new drug delivery mechanism that could make them more specific and effective."

Researchers hope the nanostructures, which are biodegradable, could be both used as injections and added to consumer products like deodorant, soap, hand sanitizers, table wipes and preservatives. They could also be used to heal wounds, tuberculosis and lung infections.

"Using our novel nanostructures, we can offer a viable therapeutic solution for the treatment of MRSA and other infectious diseases. This exciting discovery effectively integrates our capabilities in biomedical sciences and materials research to address key issues in conventional drug delivery," said Dr. Yiyan Yang of the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology in Singapore, according to a statement. Yang was the group leader for the project.

According to the researchers, the new antimicrobial agents were "specifically designed to target an infected area to allow for a systemic delivery of the drug."

Once the agents come into contact with water (such as in the body), they self-assemble into new shapes that target bacteria because of electrostatic interaction. The physical nature of these steps prevents the bacteria from developing resistance to the agents.

Unlike most antimicrobials, the new agents are biodegradable�they are naturally eliminated by the body, rather than accumulated in organs. This makes them safer for commercial applications.

Researchers tested the agents on clinical microbial samples by the State Key Laboratory for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, First Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine and Zhejiang University in China. Their research was recently published in Nature Chemistry.