1. Magnetotactic T-Budbots to Kill-n-Clean Biofilms.
- Author
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Bhuyan T, Simon AT, Maity S, Singh AK, Ghosh SS, and Bandyopadhyay D
- Subjects
- Anti-Bacterial Agents chemistry, Biocompatible Materials chemistry, Ciprofloxacin chemistry, Hydrogen-Ion Concentration, Microbial Sensitivity Tests, Particle Size, Surface Properties, Tea chemistry, Anti-Bacterial Agents pharmacology, Biocompatible Materials pharmacology, Biofilms drug effects, Ciprofloxacin pharmacology, Pseudomonas aeruginosa drug effects, Staphylococcus aureus drug effects
- Abstract
Treatment of persistent biofilm infections has turned out to be a formidable challenge even with broad-spectrum antibiotic therapies. In this direction, intelligent micromachines may serve as active mechanical means to dislodge such deleterious bacterial communities. Herein, we have designed biocompatible micromotors from tea buds, namely, T-Budbots, which shows the capacity to be magnetically driven on a biofilm matrix and remove or fragment biofilms with precision, as a part of the proposed non-invasive "Kill-n-Clean" strategy. In a way, we present a bactericidal robotic platform decorated with magnetite nanoparticles aimed at clearing in vitro biofilms present on the surfaces. We have also shown that the smart porous T-Budbots can integrate antibiotic ciprofloxacin due to electrostatic interaction on their surface to increase their antibacterial efficacy against dreadful pathogenic bacterial communities of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus . It is noteworthy that the release of this drug can be controlled by tuning the surrounding pH of the T-Budbots. For example, while the acidic environment of the biofilm facilitates the release of antibiotics from the porous T-Budbots, the drug release was rather minimal at higher pH. The work represents a first step in the involvement of a plant-based microbot exhibiting magneto-robotic therapeutic properties, providing a non-invasive and safe approach to dismantle harmful biofilm infections.
- Published
- 2020
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