Publications by authors named "Aida Baelo"

Chronic wounds infected by and are a relevant health problem worldwide because these pathogens grow embedded in a network of polysaccharides, proteins, lipids, and extracellular DNA, named biofilm, that hinders the transport of antibiotics and increases their antimicrobial tolerance. It is necessary to investigate therapies that improve the penetrability and efficacy of antibiotics. In this context, our main objectives were to study the relationship between and and how their relationship can affect the antimicrobial treatment and investigate whether functionalized silver nanoparticles can improve the antibiotic therapy.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Contact-based antimicrobials, as antibiotic-free technologies that use non-specific interactions with bacterial cells to exert antimicrobial activity, are a prospective solution in fighting the global issue of bacterial resistance. A very simplified approach to their design considers the direct bonding of cationic guanidine-containing amino acids to the surface of nano-gold carriers. The structure enables antimicrobial activity due to a high density of cationic surface charges.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Serious infections caused by bacteria that are resistant to commonly used antibiotics have become a major global healthcare problem in the 21st century. Multidrug-resistant bacteria causing severe infections mainly grow in complex bacterial communities known as biofilms, in which bacterial resistance to antibacterial agents and to the host immune system is strengthened. As drug resistance is becoming a threatening problem, it is necessary to develop new antimicrobial agents with novel mechanisms of action.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Infections caused by biofilm-forming bacteria are a major threat to hospitalized patients and the main cause of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and cystic fibrosis. There is an urgent necessity for novel therapeutic approaches, since current antibiotic delivery fails to eliminate biofilm-protected bacteria. In this study, ciprofloxacin-loaded poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) nanoparticles, which were functionalized with DNase I, were fabricated using a green-solvent based method and their antibiofilm activity was assessed against Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilms.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The emergence of multidrug-resistant bacteria has encouraged vigorous efforts to develop antimicrobial agents with new mechanisms of action. Ribonucleotide reductase (RNR) is a key enzyme in DNA replication that acts by converting ribonucleotides into the corresponding deoxyribonucleotides, which are the building blocks of DNA replication and repair. RNR has been extensively studied as an ideal target for DNA inhibition, and several drugs that are already available on the market are used for anticancer and antiviral activity.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF