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New surface may kill antibiotic-resistant staph bacteria with fluorescent light
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A new antimicrobial surface developed by researchers at the University of New Mexico is potentially inhospitable to methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus but safe for humans and animals, according to a recent presentation at the American Vacuum Society 57th International Symposium & Exhibition in Albuquerque.
The new material, conjugated polyelectrolyte (CPE), has an arylene-ethynylene repeat-unit structure and has been shown to be effective at killing gram-negative bacteria, enabling its use in a wide range of potential applications.
The researchers pointed out that certain light-activated CPEs are inert toward bacteria in the absence of light and display bacteria-killing activity with the addition of light. They noted that this opens up significant potential – including the possibility of using the polymers as antibacterial countertops that may be sterilized using regular fluorescent lights.
Until recently, it was unknown if the CPEs would exhibit similar biocidal activity toward mammalian cells. The in-vitro testing performed on these CPEs at the University of New Mexico is reported as “an important first step in determining whether [the CPEs] are harmful to humans at concentrations envisioned in potential applications.”
The researchers exposed bovine aortic endothelial cells to two different CPEs for increasing periods of time – from 10 minutes to 24 hours – in both light and dark conditions. The relative cytotoxicity was then assessed using a live/dead fluorescence assay, and imaged via epi-fluorescence microscopy.
The group found that while CPEs targeted various harmful strains such as P. aeruginosa PAO1 and C. marina, the polymers do not appear to be toxic toward mammalian cells when the cells are exposed to the polymers in both light and dark conditions.
The researchers reported that they are currently evaluating cytotoxicity at concentrations above the micromolar concentrations tested to date, in the effort to correlate mammalian test conditions to bacterial test conditions and include an epithelial cell line.
Reference:
Wilde KN, Ding L, Wang Y, et al. In vitro cytotoxicity studies of antimicrobial conjugated polyelectrolytes. Paper BI-ThP-14. Presented at the American Vacuum Society 57th International Symposium & Exhibition. Oct. 17-22, 2010. Albuquerque, New Mexico.
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