RT Journal Article T1 Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles Decorated with Polycationic Dendrimers for Infection Treatment A1 González Ortiz, Blanca A1 Colilla Nieto, Montserrat A1 Díez, Jaime A1 Pedraza, Daniel A1 Guembe, Marta A1 Izquierdo Barba, Isabel A1 Vallet Regí, María Dulce Nombre AB This work aims to provide an effective and novel solution for the treatment of infection by using nanovehicles loaded with antibiotics capable of penetrating the bacterial wall, thus increasing the antimicrobial effectiveness. These nanosystems, named "nanoantibiotics", are composed of mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs), which act as nanocarriers of an antimicrobial agent (levofloxacin, LEVO) localized inside the mesopores. To provide the nanosystem of bacterial membrane interaction capability, a polycationic dendrimer, concretely the poly(propyleneimine) dendrimer of third generation (G3), was covalently grafted to the external surface of the LEVOloaded MSNs. After physicochemical characterization of this nanoantibiotic, the release kinetics of LEVO and the antimicrobial efficacy of each released dosage were evaluated. Besides, internalization studies of the MSNs functionalized with the G3 dendrimer were carried out, showing a high penetrability throughout Gram-negative bacterial membranes. This work evidences that the synergistic combination of polycationic dendrimers as bacterial membrane permeabilization agents with LEVO-loaded MSNs triggers an efficient antimicrobial effect on Gram-negative bacterial biofilm. These positive results open up very promising expectations for their potential application in new infection therapies. PB Elsevie SN 1742-7061 YR 2018 FD 2018-03-01 LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/11951 UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/11951 LA eng NO RESEARCHER ID K-4773-2015 (Blanca González Ortiz)ORCID 0000-0002-0493-6071 (Blanca González Ortiz)RESEARCHER ID N-4628-2014 (Montse Colilla Nieto)ORCID 0000-0003-1961-4160 (Montse Colilla Nieto)RESEARCHER ID M-9921-2014 (Isabel Izquierdo Barba)ORCID 0000-0002-4139-4646 (Isabel Izquierdo Barba)RESEARCHER ID M-3378-2014 (María Vallet Regí)ORCID 0000-0002-6104-4889 (María Vallet Regí) NO Unión Europea. H2020 NO Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO) NO Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII) DS Docta Complutense RD 25 ago 2024