Staff member

In recent years, enzyme-powered nanomotors (NMs) have emerged as promising tools for biomedical applications. They exhibit active motion in complex media, whereas traditional passive nanoparticles (NPs) typically remain trapped. Despite their potential, nanogels (NGs)-3D, cross-linked polymeric networks with high water retention and environmental responsiveness-remain underexplored as cores for enzymatic NMs. Here, fine-tuned NGs designed to confer smart properties are presented, allowing them to adapt their size and density in response to external stimuli (e.g., pH, temperature, and redox conditions). After anchoring urease to these NGs to produce nanogel-nanomotors (NGs-NMs), they exhibited both individual and collective motion at a very low urea concentration, enabling displacement in highly viscous environments. To achieve this, four NGs formulations based on p-(N-isopropylacrylamide) co-polymerized with p-Itaconic acid (p-(NIPAM-co-IAc)) are developed, cross-linked with either N,N '-methylenebisacrylamide (BIS) and/or N,N '-bis(acryloyl)cystamine (BAC), and coated with p-(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) (p-HEMA). This results, obtained via confocal microscopy and flow cytometry, demonstrate their rapid cell internalization. Moreover, synchrotron-based infrared spectroscopy (SR-FTIRM) allowed to demonstrate that NGs-NMs can tune the physicochemical composition of tumoral cells. This findings underscore the potential of NGs-NMs, combining adaptability, safety, and efficacy. They represent the evolution in NMs technology, paving the way for groundbreaking advancements in personalized medicine.

JTD

Bacterial infections pose a significant global health challenge aggravated by the rise of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Among the obstacles preventing effective treatment are biological barriers (BBs) within the body such as the mucus layer. These BBs trap antimicrobials, necessitating higher doses and ultimately accelerating AMR. Addressing this issue requires innovative therapeutic strategies capable of bypassing BBs to deliver drugs more effectively. Here, we present nanomotors (NMs) based on hyaluronic acid (HA)- and urease-nanogels (NGs) as a solution to navigate effectively in viscous media by catalyzing the decomposition of urea into ammonium and carbon dioxide. These HA-based nanomotors (HA-NMs) were loaded with chloramphenicol (CHL) antibiotic and demonstrated superior antimicrobial activity against Escherichia coli(E. coli) compared to mesoporous silica NMs (MSNP-NMs), a reference in the field of NMs. Moreover, using an in vitro transwell model we evaluated the ability of HA-NMs to penetrate mucin barriers, effectively reducing E. coli proliferation, whereas the free antibiotic did not reduce bacteria proliferation. The optical density reduction at 24 h was over ten times greater than with free CHL. These organic-based enzyme-powered NMs represent a significant advancement in drug delivery, offering a promising approach to combat AMR while addressing the challenges of crossing complex BBs.

JTD Keywords: Bacterial infections, Biologicalbarriers, Design, Drug deliver, Enzyme, Mucu, Nanogels, Nanomotors, Nanoparticles