title: Biocompatible nano-gallium/hydroxyapatite nanocomposite with antimicrobial activity.
abstract: Intensive research in the area of medical nanotechnology, especially to cope with the bacterial resistance against conventional antibiotics, has shown strong antimicrobial action of metallic and metal-oxide nanomaterials towards a wide variety of bacteria. However, the important remaining problem is that nanomaterials with highest antibacterial activity generally express also a high level of cytotoxicity for mammalian cells. Here we present gallium nanoparticles as a new solution to this problem. We developed a nanocomposite from bioactive hydroxyapatite nanorods (84 wt %) and antibacterial nanospheres of elemental gallium (16 wt %) with mode diameter of 22 ± 11 nm. In direct comparison, such nanocomposite with gallium nanoparticles exhibited better antibacterial properties against Pseudomonas aeruginosa and lower in-vitro cytotoxicity for human lung fibroblasts IMR-90 and mouse fibroblasts L929 (efficient antibacterial action and low toxicity from 0.1 to 1 g/L) than the nanocomposite of hydroxyapatite and silver nanoparticles (efficient antibacterial action and low toxicity from 0.2 to 0.25 g/L). This is the first report of a biomaterial composite with gallium nanoparticles. The observed strong antibacterial properties and low cytotoxicity make the investigated material promising for the prevention of implantation-induced infections that are frequently caused by P. aeruginosa.
authors.affiliation: Jožef Stefan Institute, Advanced Materials Department, Jamova cesta 39, Ljubljana, 1000, Slovenia. mario.kurtjak@ijs.si.|Jozef Stefan International Postgraduate School, Jamova cesta 39, Ljubljana, 1000, Slovenia. mario.kurtjak@ijs.si.
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kurtjak
authors.affiliation: Jožef Stefan Institute, Advanced Materials Department, Jamova cesta 39, Ljubljana, 1000, Slovenia.
authors.forename: Marija
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vukomanović
authors.affiliation: Jozef Stefan International Postgraduate School, Jamova cesta 39, Ljubljana, 1000, Slovenia.|Jožef Stefan Institute, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Jamova cesta 39, Ljubljana, 1000, Slovenia.
authors.forename: Lovro
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kramer
authors.affiliation: Jožef Stefan Institute, Advanced Materials Department, Jamova cesta 39, Ljubljana, 1000, Slovenia.
authors.forename: Danilo
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Suvorov
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000737:chemistry; D000890:Anti-Infective Agents / Q000737:chemistry*; D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000737:chemistry*; D002460:Cell Line; D017886:Durapatite / Q000737:chemistry; D005708:Gallium / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D006882:Hydroxyapatites / Q000737:chemistry*; D007477:Ions; D053768:Metal Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry; D008670:Metals / Q000737:chemistry; D051379:Mice; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; D053761:Nanocomposites / Q000737:chemistry*; D054118:Nanospheres; D010087:Oxides / Q000737:chemistry; D011550:Pseudomonas aeruginosa / Q000187:drug effects*; D012834:Silver / Q000737:chemistry; D014961:X-Ray Diffraction
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D000890:Anti-Infective Agents; D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D006882:Hydroxyapatites; D007477:Ions; D008670:Metals; D010087:Oxides; D012834:Silver; D017886:Durapatite; D005708:Gallium