mPEG-PDLLa from PolySciTech used for delivery of silver nanoparticles to kill antibiotic resistant bacteria

PolySciTech (www.polyscitech.com) provides a wide array of biodegradable block copolymers including mPEG-PDLLa. As bacteria mutate and evolve, traditional antibiotic therapies are becoming increasingly less effective due to bacterial resistance against such therapies.  Silver nanoparticles act as antibiotic agents which still retain effectiveness against antibiotic-resistant bacteria. However, silver suffer from poor aqueous solubility which hinders its capability to be administered. Recently, a study came out from Northeastern University where they utilized PolyVivo AK021 (mPEG-PDLLa 5000-50000) to create a polymersome which aided in delivery of silver nanoparticles and they used this system to effectively reduce the bacterial growth of antibiotic resistant E Coli. More effectively than conventional antibiotics thus showing the applicability of such a system for treatment. Read more:  Geilich, Benjamin M., Anne L. van de Ven, Gloria L. Singleton, Liuda J. Sepúlveda, Srinivas Sridhar, and Thomas J. Webster. "Silver nanoparticle-embedded polymersome nanocarriers for the treatment of antibiotic-resistant infections." Nanoscale 7, no. 8 (2015): 3511-3519. http://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlehtml/2015/nr/c4nr05823b

“Abstract: The rapidly diminishing number of effective antibiotics that can be used to treat infectious diseases and associated complications in a physician's arsenal is having a drastic impact on human health today. This study explored the development and optimization of a polymersome nanocarrier formed from a biodegradable diblock copolymer to overcome bacterial antibiotic resistance. Here, polymersomes were synthesized containing silver nanoparticles embedded in the hydrophobic compartment, and ampicillin in the hydrophilic compartment. Results showed for the first time that these silver nanoparticle-embedded polymersomes (AgPs) inhibited the growth of Escherichia coli transformed with a gene for ampicillin resistance (bla) in a dose-dependent fashion. Free ampicillin, AgPs without ampicillin, and ampicillin polymersomes without silver nanoparticles had no effect on bacterial growth. The relationship between the silver nanoparticles and ampicillin was determined to be synergistic and produced complete growth inhibition at a silver-to-ampicillin ratio of 1 : 0.64. In this manner, this study introduces a novel nanomaterial that can effectively treat problematic, antibiotic-resistant infections in an improved capacity which should be further examined for a wide range of medical applications.”