Controlling the structure of supramolecular fibre formation for benzothiazole based hydrogels with antimicrobial activity against methicillin resistant .

Antimicrobial resistance is one of the greatest threats to human health. Gram-positive methicillin resistant (MRSA), in both its planktonic and biofilm form, is of particular concern. Herein we identify the hydrogelation properties for a series of intrinsically fluorescent, structurally related supramolecular self-associating amphiphiles and determine their efficacy against both planktonic and biofilm forms of MRSA.

Cold Atmospheric Plasma-Activated Composite Hydrogel for an Enhanced and On-Demand Delivery of Antimicrobials.

We present the concept of a versatile drug-loaded composite hydrogel that can be activated using an argon-based cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) jet to deliver both a drug and CAP-generated molecules, concomitantly, in a tissue target. To demonstrate this concept, we utilized the antibiotic gentamicin that is encapsulated in sodium polyacrylate (PAA) particles, which are dispersed within a poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) hydrogel matrix. The final product is a gentamicin-PAA-PVA composite hydrogel suitable for an on-demand triggered release using CAP.

Recent advances in therapeutic delivery systems of bacteriophage and bacteriophage-encoded endolysins.

Antibiotics have been the cornerstone of clinical management of bacterial infection since their discovery in the early 20th century. However, their widespread and often indiscriminate use has now led to reports of multidrug resistance becoming globally commonplace. Bacteriophage therapy has undergone a recent revival in battle against pathogenic bacteria, as the self-replicating and co-evolutionary features of these predatory virions offer several advantages over conventional therapeutic agents.

In vitro studies of toxic shock toxin-1-secreting Staphylococcus aureus and implications for burn care in children.

Background: The main etiologic agent of toxic shock syndrome is the toxic shock syndrome toxin-1 (TSST-1) protein secreted by Staphylococcus aureus. Diagnosis of toxic shock syndrome is difficult and is significantly underdiagnosed in young children with burns due to the nonspecific presentation coupled with a rapid deterioration in patient condition.

Methods: The lytic and cytolytic activity of a number of clinical and laboratory TSST-1-positive strains of methicillin-susceptible S.

The effects of conductivity and electrochemical doping on the reduction of methemoglobin immobilized in nanoparticulate TiO2 films.

Methemoglobin (bovine) is immobilized from aqueous phosphate buffer (pH 5.5) solution into thin porous TiO(2) (anatase) films at ITO electrode surfaces. Films of TiO(2) are produced in a deposition process employing 40 nm diameter TiO(2) nanoparticles suspended in dry methanol followed by calcination.

Electrochemically induced morphology and volume changes in surface-grafted poly(ferrocenyldimethylsilane) monolayers.

Poly(ferrocenyldimethylsilanes), composed of alternating ferrocene and dimethylsilane units in their main chain and featuring a thiol end group, were self-assembled to redox-active monolayers on gold. Electrochemical atomic force microscopy was employed to study the morphology of the monolayers as a function of the applied potential in situ. Surface plasmon resonance spectroscopy and spectroscopic ellipsometry measurements, performed under electrochemical control, indicated thickness changes of up to 15% upon oxidizing and reducing the surface-grafted polymers.