Patent Abstract:
the present invention is related to novel functional antibody coated nanoparticles , and the preparation method thereof . the functional antibody coated nanoparticles according to the present invention can be used as photothermal agents to effectively inhibit the growth of microbes including drug - resistant strains and biolfilm with laser irradiation .

Detailed Description:
an objective of this invention is a non - antibiotic treatment method for microbial infections . another objective of this invention is functional antibody coated nanoparticles for selective killing of drug resistant bacteria . the inventive method simplifies the treatment protocol of zharov et al . by requiring attachment of only one antibody , and is effective against both methicillin sensitive and resistant bacteria . yet another objective of this invention is a method of destroying / reducing microbial biofilm using functional antibody coated nanoparticles under exposure of laser irradiation . yet another objective of this invention is a method of destroying / reducing bacterial infection including infections involving biofilm generated by microorganisms using functional antibody coated nanoparticles , in combination with an adjuvant under laser irradiation . an embodiment of this invention is functional antibody coated nanoparticles comprised of a nanoparticle core ; and an antimicrobial antibody coating disposed on at least part of the surface of the nanoparticle core . the nanoparticle core is capable of absorbing laser irradiation , which includes but is not limited to a metal nanoparticle , a nanoparticle with a core - shell structure , or an electroceramic nanocomposite . in one embodiment , the nanoparticle core is a gold nanoparticle or a silica nanoparticle coated with a gold shell . the antimicrobial antibody is capable of recognizing the target microorganism such as a gram - positive or gram - negative bacterium . in one embodiment , the antibody is capable of recognizing bacteria with surface peptidoglycan . the antibody may be coated onto the nanoparticle core via a variety of attachment methods , including but not limited to covalent bonds , electrostatic interactions , or streptavidin - biotin bond . the functional antibody coated nanoparticles of this invention may be easily prepared by a ) providing a nanoparticle solution ; preparing a solution containing the antibacterial antibody ; and reacting said nanoparticle solution with the antibacterial antibody solution , so the antibacterial antibody is fixed on a surface of the nanoparticle . in one embodiment of this invention , gold nanoparticle is first coated with streptavidin . streptavidin coated gold nanoparticles are purchased from bioassay works ®, llc ( ijamsville , md . ), and suspended in a phosphate buffered saline solution containing bovine serum albumin and glycerol to stabilize the nanoparticles against aggregation . an anti - peptidoglycan antibody solution is then prepared , which contains biotinylated antipeptidoglycan antibody . the two solutions are thoroughly mixed , and the antipeptidoglycan antibody is fixed onto the surface of the nanoparticle via streptavidin - biotin binding . the functional antibody coated nanoparticle of this invention may be used to treat microbial infection , such as a bacteria infection . in an embodiment , the subject is first administrated an effective dose of the antibody coated nanoparticles of this invention , and the subject was placed under laser irradiation source . the exposure may last approximately 1 - 200 seconds . the laser irradiation source may include but not be limited to any high energy light source with pulse width less than 100 microseconds . the wavelength of the irradiation may be 300 to 1500 nm . in one embodiment , a patient was treated for wound surface bacterial infection by first applying functional antibody coated nanoparticles to the wound , and then irradiating the wound site under high peak power pulsed laser for a short time . a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier such as a liquid , solution , or aerosol composed of sterile , isotonic saline , phosphate buffered saline or 0 . 1 % albumin in saline for topical administration , may also be administered with the functional antibody coated nanoparticles . one or more antimicrobial agents may also be administered before laser irradiation . for example , chitosan is a naturally occurring biopolymer with good biocompatibility and antimicrobial activity against a wide range of bacteria . endopeptidase lysostaphin can enzymatically attack the bacterial cell wall . other antimicrobial enzymes , such as dispersin b that breaks down the extracellular matrix of biofilms , and antimicrobial peptides , such as ll - 37 and ranalexin that weaken the bacterial membrane or cell wall , may also be included . the functional antibody coated nanoparticles may also be used to prevent or reduce biofilm formation generated by a microorganism , such as bacteria . in an embodiment , the subject is administrated an effective dose of the functional antibody coated nanoparticles of this invention , and subject to laser irradiation . the exposure may last approximately 1 - 200 seconds . the laser irradiation source may include but not limited any high energy light source with a pulse width less than 100 microseconds . the wavelength of the irradiation may be 300 to 1500 nm . a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier such as a liquid , solution , or aerosol composed of sterile isotonic saline , phosphate buffered saline , 10 % glycerol , or 0 . 1 % albumin in saline for topical administration , may also be administered with the functional antibody coated nanoparticles . one or more antimicrobial agents may also be administered before laser irradiation . for example , chitosan is a naturally occurring biopolymer with good biocompatibility and antimicrobial activity against a wide range of bacteria . endopeptidase lysostaphin can enzymatically attack the bacterial cell wall . dispersin b is also known to break down the extracellular matrix of staphylococcal biofilms ( 12 ). antimicrobial peptides such as ll - 37 and ranalexin weaken the bacterial membrane or cell wall ( 13 , 14 ). although the embodiment is directed to s . aureus , other bacterial infections may also be treated using nanoparticles of this invention , such as acinetobacter baumanii , pseudomonas aeruginosa , e . coli , and klebsiella species . antibodies specific for the infectious agent must be selected to target the nanoparticles to the bacteria . nanoparticles of different shapes or sizes must be selected based on the wavelength selected for the infection to maximize absorption . similarly , in additional to treating topical wounds , infection within the body such as lung infection caused by tuberculosis may also be treated using the inventive method with minor adaption . the laser wavelength for deeper penetration needs to be in the near infrared region of 700 to 900 nm . laser irradiation may be directed to infection site via optic fibers . fifty μl aliquots (− 6 . 5 × 10 10 particles ) of sterile - filtered 40 nm gold nanospheres coated with streptavidin ( 15 od , bioassay works , ijamsville , md ., usa ) were diluted with 1 ml of phosphate buffered saline ( pbs , gibco , grand island , n . y ., usa ) containing 0 . 1 % bovine serum albumin ( sigma , st . louis , mo ., usa ) and 10 % glycerol ( sigma , vehicle containing pbs , bovine serum albumin , and glycerol hereafter referred to as pbg ) and centrifuged at 7400 g for 10 minutes at room temperature to remove the original vehicle . the supernatant was removed , the pellet was suspended in 0 . 5 ml of pbg , and biotinylated anti - staphylococcus aureus monoclonal antibody ( 1 . 3 mg / ml , clone 702 , acris antibodies , san diego , calif ., usa ) was added at a 1 : 100 volumetric ratio . non - functionalized gold nanospheres were prepared in the same way without addition of the antibody . tubes were then placed on an orbital mixer ( clay adams nutator mixer , bd , franklin lakes , n . j ., usa ) for 1 hour at room temperature . methicillin sensitive ( mssa , catalog number 29213 ) and methicillin resistant ( mrsa , catalog number 33591 ) strains of s . aureus were obtained from the american type culture collection ( manassas , va ., usa ) and grown aerobically in tryptic soy broth or nutrient broth ( both from bd ), respectively , on a shaking incubator at 250 rpm and 37 ° c . to an od600 of 0 . 500 to 0 . 550 (− 1 − 2 × 10 8 cfu / ml ). cultures were centrifuged at 5000 g for 5 minutes at room temperature . the supernatant was removed and the bacterial pellets were suspended in one - half the original culture volume of pbg . tubes containing the functionalized or non - functionalized nanoparticles were removed from the orbital shaker and 0 . 5 ml of the bacterial suspension was added to each tube . for non - treated control samples , 0 . 5 ml of the bacterial suspension in pbg was added to a tube containing 0 . 5 ml of pbg without any nanoparticles . all tubes were then returned to the orbital shaker for 90 minutes of incubation at room temperature . laser exposures were performed using an nd : yag q - switched laser ( model crf400 , big sky / quantel , bozeman , mont ., usa ) with a wavelength of 532 nm , an 8 nanosecond pulse duration , and a pulse repetition rate of 1 hz . the optical system included a 250 - mm focal length lens and a variable aperture arranged to provide a 2 - mm diameter beam with a maximum energy density of approximately 5 j / cm 2 / pulse . in some experiments , neutral density filters were placed in the beam path to reduce the pulse energy . a nova ii laser energy meter with a pyroelectric energy sensor ( model pe25bf - dif - c ) and starlab 2 . 0 software ( all from newport , irvine , calif ., usa ) were used to measure and record the pulse energies for each experiment . laser dosimetry was performed immediately pre - and post - exposure by recording the energy of 10 successive pulses . these pre - and post - exposure values were combined to calculate the mean exposure energy , which was used to calculate laser fluence ( energy per unit area ) assuming a 2 - mm beam diameter . triplicate or quadruplicate 75 - ul aliquots from each bacterial sample were exposed in quartz cuvettes with a 2 mm wide window and 10 mm light path ( precision cells , farmingdale , n . y ., usa ). for sham exposures , samples were transferred to cuvettes and placed in the exposure set up for the approximate duration of laser treatment but the laser was not activated . after irradiation with 100 pulses or sham exposure , the aliquots were transferred to fresh tubes , serially diluted in pbs , and plated in triplicate on tryptic soy agar . bacterial colonies were counted after overnight incubation at 37 ° c . statistical analysis of results was conducted using statistica software ( v . 9 . 1 , statsoft , inc , tulsa , okla ., usa ). fig1 shows targeted killing of methicillin sensitive s . aureus ( mssa ) with antibody functionalized gold nanoparticles combined with 532 nm laser irradiation ( 100 pulses , 5 j / cm2 ). bacterial survival was determined by colony forming unit assay . the control group , which did not receive gnps or laser treatment , was set to 100 % survival . values are expressed as mean + sd . p = 0 . 0002 compared to the other three experimental groups was determined by one - way anova followed by post - hoc tukey hsd test . the results shows antibody functionalized gold nanoparticles combined with 532 nm laser irradiation is effective in significantly reducing bacterial survival . fig2 is the scanning electron microscope images of a ) mssa , b ) mssa + gnps without antibody , c ) mssa + gnps with antibody at 25 , 000 ×, and d ) mssa + gnps with antibody at 100 , 000 × magnification . images illustrate antibody targeting of gnps to mssa . bottom four panels show mssa treated with antibody - conjugated gnps and exposed to e ) sham treatment (− laser ) or f ) through h ) pulsed laser irradiation at 532 nm (+ laser ). panels f ) through h ) show evidence of flattened , dead bacterial cells . fig3 shows antibacterial effect of antibody targeted gold nanoparticles and pulsed 532 nm laser irradiation against mssa as a function of laser fluence . mssa samples were incubated with 40 - nm gold nanospheres coated with anti - s . aureus antibodies then exposed to 100 laser pulses . bacterial survival was determined by colony forming unit assays . the control group which did not receive gold nanoparticles or laser treatment was set to 100 % survival . values are expressed as mean + sd of six independent experiments . fig4 shows antibacterial effect of targeted gnps and pulsed 532 nm laser irradiation against a ) mssa and b ) mrsa . bacterial samples were incubated with 40 - nm gold nanospheres coated with anti - s . aureus antibodies then exposed to 100 laser pulses . bacterial survival was determined by colony forming unit assays . the control group which did not receive gold nanoparticles or laser treatment was set to 100 % survival . the antibody functionalized gold nanoparticles combined with 532 nm laser irradiation is shown to be effective in killing drug - resistant s . aureus . chitosan is a naturally occurring biopolymer with good biocompatibility and antimicrobial activity against a wide range of bacteria . the ability of chitosan to enhance the antibacterial effect of laser - induced opto - acoustics against methicillin - sensitive and methicillin - resistant s . aureus in planktonic cultures will be tested . first , the anti - bacterial effect of two low molecular weight , and one medium molecular weight chitosan preparations without laser or nanoparticle treatment will be determined by monitoring od600 over 24 hours in a microtiter plate growth assay . the chitosan preparation with the greatest antibacterial effect in the plate assay will then be tested to determine if it can augment the laser - induced opto - acoustic killing of s . aureus . testing will include experiments to characterize the chitosan concentrations and incubation times for maximal antimicrobial effect . an in vitro biofilm model will be developed using methicillin - sensitive and methicillin - resistant strains of s . aureus , according to published procedures ( 8 , 9 ). in brief , aliquots of fresh bacterial cultures in broth will be inoculated into wells of 96 - well microplates with quartz bottoms and incubated for 24 to 48 hours as needed for formation of biofilms . light microscopy and crystal violet staining will be used to monitor biofilm formation . gold nanospheres coated with streptavidin will be functionalized as described using biotinylated monoclonal antibodies directed against peptidoglycan , protein a , or lipoprotein of s . aureus ( 10 , 11 ). methicillin - sensitive and methicillin - resistant s . aureus biofilms will be grown in 96 - well microplates as described . broth will be removed from the wells and the plates and washed with pbs . aliquots of the functionalized nanospheres will then be added to the microplate wells containing biofilms and the plates will be incubated for 90 minutes at 37 ° c . the nanoparticle solution will be removed , the wells washed with pbs , and fresh pbs added to the wells . the plates will be placed in a custom - designed 96 - well plate holder attached to a computer - controlled gantry xy robotic system and exposed through the top of the well to 8 - ns pulsed laser irradiation at 532 nm . sham exposed samples will be placed within the sample holder but the laser will not be activated . total biofilm mass will be measured using the crystal violet staining method ( 9 ), and selected biofilm samples will be analyzed for bacterial viability using a live / dead biofilm viability kit ( invitrogen ). efficacy of the three different types of monoclonal antibodies in targeting the nanoparticles to induce killing of the biofilms will be compared . use of adjuvants that are known to weaken the bacterial cell wall and extracellular matrix of biofilms will potentially make the cells more susceptible to the opto - acoustic effects and lower the pulse energy required for maximal anti - bacterial effect . at this time , possible candidates selected for testing as adjuvants include the endopeptidase lysostaphin , which enzymatically attacks the bacterial cell wall and dispersin b , an enzyme that breaks down the extracellular matrix of staphylococcal biofilms ( 12 ). other possible candidates include antibacterial peptides that weaken the cell wall or membrane such ranalexin and ll - 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