Scientists from MIPT have successfully tested iron-based nanoparticles to destroy intracellular chlamydia parasites using active oxygen. Experiments have shown that the approach is effective in eradicating a dormant form of chlamydia that is insensitive to antibiotics. The press service of the university told socialbites.ca about this.
One of the main difficulties in the treatment of intracellular infections is the protection of bacteria from antibiotics and the human immune system: they are hidden from them by the host cell membrane. These parasites include chlamydia. C. trachomatis. Other intracellular parasites include the causative agents of tuberculosis and Listeriosis. Some antibiotics can penetrate cells, but an additional complication in the case of chlamydia is the presence of a dormant form of the bacterium. It is metabolically inactive and therefore insensitive to antibiotics, whose action is usually aimed at disrupting the reproduction or vital activity of pathogens.
In a new study, scientists prepared MOX MIL-100 nanoparticles based on iron ions and trimesic acid, which have low toxicity, biodegradability, biocompatibility and chemical stability in water, as a “drug container”. Methylene blue dye, an antibacterial agent, was applied to the pores of the frame. When illuminated with visible light in the red range, it participates in the formation of reactive oxygen species that damage the structures of the parasite.
Experiments on macrophages infected with chlamydia immune cells showed that the nanoparticles could not only penetrate infected cells but also reach the vicinity of the bacteria.
“Most of the oxygen radicals produced with the participation of the photosensitizer have a short life and a short range in the cell and, therefore, will only interact with and damage nearby bacterial cells and will not cause significant damage to distant cellular structures of the host. cell, e.g. nucleus. MOX MIL-100 nanoparticles, thanks to their ability to deliver drugs to chlamydial debris, allowed us to use a photodynamic approach for the first time to destroy these bacteria in an infected host cell, said Mikhail Durymanov, deputy head of the specialized cell laboratory. Technologies at MIPT and the author of the project idea told socialbites.ca.
When treating patients, suspensions of the resulting nanoparticles with a photosensitizer will be injected dropwise into chlamydia-infected mucous membranes and then irradiated with visible light in the far-red range (this radiation penetrates to a depth of 2 cm) using light guides. It is currently used in gynecology.
Employees of the MIPT Special Cell Technologies Laboratory as well as colleagues from Moscow State University participated in the study. MV Lomonosov named NICEM. NF Gamaleya is named after the Federal Research Center for Physical and Chemical Medicine. Yu.M. Lopukhin and the Paris Institute for Porous Materials (IMAP, Ecole Normale Supérieure).
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