Nanomedicine: New Frontiers in Fighting Microbial Infections

Abstract

Microbes have dominated life on Earth for the past two billion years, despite facing a variety of obstacles. In the 20th century, antibiotics and immunizations brought about these changes. Since then, microorganisms have acquired resistance, and various infectious diseases have been able to avoid being treated with traditionally developed vaccines. Antibiotic resistance and pathogenicity have surpassed antibiotic discovery in terms of importance over the course of the past few decades. These shifts have resulted in tremendous economic and health repercussions across the board for all socioeconomic levels; thus, we require ground-breaking innovations to effectively manage microbial infections and to provide long-term solutions. The pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors have been radically altered as a result of nanomedicine, and this trend is now spreading to the antibacterial research community. Here, we examine the role that nanomedicine plays in the prevention of microbial infections, including topics such as diagnosis, antimicrobial therapy, pharmaceutical administration, and immunizations, as well as the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead.

Keywords: diagnosis; microbial infection; nanomedicine; therapy; vaccine.

Figure 6

Images (A) and (B) are the chemical structure of the proposed peptide containing cholesterol, glycine, arginine, and TAT, and represent the formation of micelles. Reproduced with permission from [121], American Chemical Society, 2013. Images (C) and (D) are the chemical structure of cationic amphiphilic polycarbonate and represent the formation of micelles, as simulated by the Materials Studio program utilizing molecular modeling. Reproduced with permission from [122]. Copyright American Chemical Society, 2015.

Figure 1

Applications of nanomedicine in the treatment of infectious diseases caused by microbes. Reproduced with permission from [24]. Copyright Elsevier, 2014.

Figure 2

Immune response induction and how nanoparticles affect it [30]. Reproduced with permission from [30]. Copyright Springer, Nature, 2013.

Figure 3

(A) Candida T2MR assay process. (B) T2MR detecting particle reagent schematic. SPIONs covalently conjugate oligonucleotide probes. Each target had two nanoparticle populations with a target-complementary probe. These nanoparticles aggregate when hybridized to the target strand amplified in excess by asymmetric PCR, changing the sample’s T2MR signal. DNA concentration increases clustering. Reproduced with permission from [59]. Copyright Elsevier, 2017.

Figure 4

Assay using bio-barcodes for the detection of DNA and proteins. A representation in schematic form of (a) the identification of proteins by the use of the bio-barcode test; (b) detection of nucleic acids by the use of the bio-barcode test; as well as (c) the econometric detection method. Reproduced with permission from [24]. Copyright Elsevier, 2014.

Figure 5

Antimicrobial nanomaterials and nanoparticle-based drug delivery systems: A schematic overview.

Figure 7

(A) Schematic of the nanoparticle-mediated drug targeting bacterial cell walls. A small negative charge and surface PEGylation prevent nanoparticles from attaching to nontarget cells or blood components at physiologic pH 7.4. The surface-charge-switching process activates at weakly acidic infection sites, attaching nanoparticles to negatively charged bacteria. (B) PLGA—PLH—PEG nanoparticles convert from anionic to cationic when the pH drops. (C) Minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) of S. aureus vancomycin formulation. * indicates p < 0.05. Reproduced with permission from [155]. Copyright American Chemical Society, 2012.