García Fontecha, AnaGonzález Ortiz, BlancaHarvey, KatherineIzquierdo Barba, IsabelVallet Regí, María Dulce Nombre2023-06-162023-06-162021-10-071387-181110.1016/j.micromeso.2021.111489https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/4484CRUE-CSIC (Acuerdos Transformativos 2021) RESEARCHER ID B-1301-2015 (Ana García Fontecha) ORCID 0000-0002-8792-872X (Ana García Fontecha) RESEARCHER ID K-4773-2015 (Blanca González Ortiz) ORCID 0000-0002-0493-6071 (Blanca González Ortiz) 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)Bacterial biofilms can initiate chronic infections that become difficult to eradicate. There is an unmet need for effective therapeutic strategies that control and inhibit the growth of these biofilms. Herein, light sensitive mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) with photothermal (PTT) and antimicrobial combined capabilities have been developed. These nanosystems have high therapeutic potential to affect the bacterial biofilm architecture and subsequently inhibit its growth. Nucleation of gold nanorods followed by the growth of a silica shell leads to a core@shell design (AuNR@MSN) with PTT properties. Incorporation of nitrosothiol groups (-SNO) with a heat liable linker, enables an enhanced nitric oxide release upon photothermal stimulation with near infrared radiation. Further loading of an antimicrobial molecule such as the levofloxacin (LEVO) antibiotic creates a unique nanoassembly with potential therapeutic efficacy against Staphylococcus aureus bacterial biofilms. A dispersion rate of the bacterial biofilm was evident when light stimuli is applied because impregnation of the nitrosothiol functionalized nanosystem with the antibiotic LEVO led to ca. 30% reduction but its illumination with near infrared (NIR) irradiation showed a biofilm reduction of ca. 90%, indicating that localized antimicrobial exposure and PTT improves the therapeutic efficacy. These findings envision the conception of near-infrared-activated nanoparticle carriers capable of combined therapy upon NIR irradiation, which enables photothermal therapy, together with the release of levofloxacin and nitric oxide to disrupt the integrity of bacterial biofilms and achieve a potent antimicrobial therapy.engAtribución-NoComercial-SinDerivadas 3.0 Españajournal articlehttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.micromeso.2021.111489https://www.ucm.es/valletregigroupopen access615.46546Mesoporous silica nanoparticlescore@shell nanosystemsLight responsive nanomaterialsPhotothermal therapyBacterial biofilm dispersionInfection treatmentMaterialesQuímica inorgánica (Farmacia)3312 Tecnología de Materiales