2026-04-17T22:42:51Zhttps://recercat.cat/oai/request

oai:recercat.cat:2445/1841182025-12-04T22:48:05Zcom_2072_1057col_2072_478825col_2072_478902col_2072_478917

00925njm 22002777a 4500 dc Vilela, Diana author Blanco-Cabra, Núria author Eguskiza, Ander author Hortelao, Ana C. author Torrents Serra, Eduard author Sánchez, Samuel author 2022-03-15T11:00:49Z 2022-03-15T11:00:49Z 2021-03-26 2022-03-15T11:00:49Z The low efficacy of current conventional treatments for bacterial infections increases mortality rates worldwide. To alleviate this global health problem, we propose drug-free enzyme- based nanomotors for the treatment of bacterial urinary-tract infections. We develop nanomotors consisting of mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNPs) that were functionalized with either urease (U-MSNPs), lysozyme (L-MSNPs), or urease and lysozyme (M- MSNPs), and use them against nonpathogenic planktonic Escherichia coli. U-MSNPs exhibited the highest bactericidal activity due to biocatalysis of urea into NaHCO3 and NH3, which also propels U-MSNPs. In addition, U-MSNPs in concentrations above 200 μg/mL were capable of successfully reducing 60% of the biofilm biomass of a uropathogenic E. coli strain. This study thus provides a proof-of-concept, demonstrating that enzyme-based nanomotors are capable of fighting infectious diseases. This approach could potentially be extended to other kinds of diseases by selecting appropriate biomolecules. Infeccions per escheríchia coli Biofilms Nanotecnologia Escherichia coli infections Biofilms Nanotechnology Drug-free Enzyme-based bactericidal nanomotors against pathogenic bacteria