title: Versatile antimicrobial peptide-based ZnO quantum dots for in vivo bacteria diagnosis and treatment with high specificity.
abstract: The increased mortality caused by pathogenic bacterial infection calls for early infection diagnosis and effective antibiotic alternatives. In this work, we developed a fluorescent nano-probe named ZnO@PEP-MPA by conjugating BSA-stabilized ZnO quantum dot (ZnO@BSA) with UBI29-41, an anti-bacteria peptide fragment, and MPA, a near infrared (NIR) dye. The nanoprobe ZnO@PEP-MPA exhibited low cytotoxicity and could discriminate the bacterial infection from sterile inflammation or cancer in vivo with high specificity and low detection limitation. Based on the platform of ZnO@PEP-MPA, a theranostic nanocomposite, Van@ZnO-PEP-MPA was firstly established by further decorating ZnO@PEP-MPA with Vancomycin, a kind of glycopeptide antibiotic, which demonstrated enhanced antibacterial activity and desirable biocompatibility both in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, another antibiotic methicillin was immobilized onto ZnO@PEP-MPA, forming Met@ZnO-PEP-MPA and demonstrated significant improved capability to combat with the anti-methicillin-resistant-bacteria in comparison with free methicillin as a result of the increased cell membrane permeation mediated by ZnO@BSA-PEP-MPA. Therefore, ZnO-PEP-MPA reported in this work holds promising potential to realize efficient non-invasive diagnosis of bacterial infections, providing important guiding information for treatment, and can be employed as drug carriers for effective bacterial-targeting therapy, favorable to hurdle multi-drug resistance after being loaded with antibiotics.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Engineering, China Pharmaceutical University, 24 Tongjia Lane, Gulou District, Nanjing 210009, China. Electronic address: chenhaiyan@cpu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Haiyan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Engineering, China Pharmaceutical University, 24 Tongjia Lane, Gulou District, Nanjing 210009, China.
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioengineering, University of Washington, Seattle, USA.
authors.forename: Bowen
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Engineering, China Pharmaceutical University, 24 Tongjia Lane, Gulou District, Nanjing 210009, China.
authors.forename: Dan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: School of Pharmacy, China Pharmaceutical University, 24 Tongjia Lane, Gulou District, Nanjing 210009, China.
authors.forename: Xinyue
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.affiliation: School of Pharmacy, China Pharmaceutical University, 24 Tongjia Lane, Gulou District, Nanjing 210009, China.
authors.forename: Yuheng
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Engineering, China Pharmaceutical University, 24 Tongjia Lane, Gulou District, Nanjing 210009, China. Electronic address: guyueqing@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Yueqing
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Gu
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001412:Bacillus subtilis / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; D010455:Peptides / Q000494:pharmacology*; D045663:Quantum Dots; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D015034:Zinc Oxide / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D010455:Peptides; D015034:Zinc Oxide
keywords: Anti-multidrug resistance; Bacteria-targeting; Diagnosis; In vivo; Therapy; ZnO quantum dots