Intracellular pills
New nanocapsules deliver antibiotics to an infected cell
Researchers from the UK have developed a new technology based on nanoparticles to destroy dangerous bacteria hiding inside human cells, the press service of the University of Southampton reports. The development is described in detail in the journal ACS Nano (Porges et al., Antibiotic-Loaded Polymersomes for Clearance of Intracellular Burkholderia thailandensis).
Burkholderia (Burkholderia) is a genus of bacteria that cause the deadly disease melioidosis, for which the development of fever, pneumonia, abscesses is typical. Antibiotics administered orally or intravenously often do not work against it, because bacteria hide and grow in macrophages – the immune cells of the body.
To combat this bacterium, British scientists have developed tiny capsules – polymersomes, the size of which is no more than 1000 parts of the diameter of a human hair. They carry antibiotics inside themselves directly to the place in the cell where the bacteria grow. The scientists added these polymersomes to macrophages infected with bacteria.
The experiment showed that the capsules are easily captured by macrophages and bind to bacteria inside the cells. This means that they can be an effective way to deliver a high concentration of antibiotics to the focus of infection. The team hopes that this may eventually lead to patients being treated with injections or inhalations of capsules filled with antibiotics.
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