Aptamer-Targeted Drug Delivery for Biofilm.

Treatment of biofilm infections using conventional antibiotic therapy is challenging as only doses that are sublethal to the biofilm can be administered safely to patients. A potential solution to this challenge is targeted drug delivery. In this study, we tailored an aptamer-targeted liposomal drug delivery system for accumulation and delivery of antibiotics locally in biofilm. In our search for a suitable targeting ligand, we identified six DNA aptamers that bound to cells in biofilms, and we demonstrated that one of these aptamers could facilitate accumulation of liposomes around cells inside the biofilm. Aptamer-targeted liposomes encapsulating a combination of vancomycin and rifampicin were able to eradicate biofilm upon 24 h of treatment . Our results point to that aptamer-targeted drug delivery of antibiotics is a potential new strategy for treatment of biofilm infections.