Adaptive antimicrobial nanocarriers for the control of infectious biofilms

Bacterial infections are mostly due to bacteria in an adhering, biofilm-mode of growth and not due to planktonically-growing, suspended bacteria. Biofilm bacteria are much more recalcitrant to conventional antimicrobials than planktonic bacteria due to (1) low penetration and accumulation of antimicrobials in biofilm, (2) disabling of antimicrobials due to acidic and anaerobic conditions prevailing in biofilm, and (3) enzymatic modification or inactivation of antimicrobials by biofilm inhabitants. In recent years, new nanotechnology-based antimicrobials have been designed to kill planktonic, antibiotic-resistant bacteria, but additional requirements than the mere killing of suspended bacteria must be met to combat biofilm-infections. The requirements to and merits of nanotechnology-based antimicrobials for the control of biofilm-infection form the focus of this thesis. Herein, we have developed a serious of surface-adaptive nanocarriers for specific targeting bacteria and on-demand antimicrobial release. The antimicrobial-loaded adaptive nanocarriers showed remarkable efficacy in the eradication of bacteria in biofilms both in vitro and in vivo, indicating their potential in clinical translation.