Nanoparticle Antimicrobial Development

Student: Anthony D’Onofrio
Department: Biology
Advisor: Kim Lewis

Abstract

The unique properties of iron oxide nanoparticles hold exciting potential as an antimicrobial. Magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles are capable of producing heat when exposed to an external oscillating magnetic field. When targeted specifically to bacterial cells, this property could be exploited to induce bacterial death by hyperthermia.

This strategy has exciting implications since bacterial infections are known to be notoriously recalcitrant. Biofilm infections in particular are difficult to sterilize due to a small subpopulation of persister cells, which are tolerant to antibiotics. These cells are phenotypic variants in a state of dormancy, which affords them tolerance to high doses as well as combinations of antibiotics. Thermal disruption by nanoparticles is particularly exciting because the strategy aims to disrupt bacterial cells regardless of their metabolic state. The technique has the potential of sterilizing infections by killing not only the bulk of the population but the tolerant persister fraction.

The project is being carried out as a collaboration between the Northeastern IGERT Nanomedicine Program and the Northeastern Antimicrobial Drug Discovery Center.