Identification of iron oxide nanoparticle size and shape for the most effective anti-microbial/anti-biofilm activity

抗生素耐药性的上升是一个全球性的卫生保健问题[世卫组织--抗菌素耐药性：2014年监测全球报告**]。迫切需要新的战略来抗击感染。局部杀菌剂是许多医院感染的一种可能的解决方案，因为它们可以直接应用于感染点**并具有广泛的微生物靶标。然而，它们不是靶向性的--细胞毒性是一个**问题。这一挑战可以通过在磁性纳米颗粒(MNPs)上涂上杀菌剂、使用磁场**从感染部位移除以及控制接触时间来解决。要实现这项技术**需要对涂层化学、MNPs的磁性以及要使用的MNPs的大小和形状有详细的了解。**细菌生物膜也会导致巨大的感染问题。生物膜由具有细胞外基质的微生物群落组成，由于标准抗生素和消毒剂很难穿透生物膜以杀灭或抑制病原微生物，因此很难去除生物膜。生物膜永久存在于医疗器械和伤口上，是持续性和复发性感染的来源。与凯恩**生物技术公司合作，我的团队正在使用我的团队开发的新的MNPs来解决这个“生物膜问题”，以利用MNPs的静态和动态磁场创建新的**生物膜根除技术。凯恩生物科技公司是一家加拿大公司，专注于防止和分散细菌生物膜的新型产品。15年来**凯恩生物科技的研发部门一直在开发新技术和创新，在生物技术领域获得了超过75项**专利和正在申请的专利，主要集中在生物膜上。通过这项Engage Grant，我们将与**凯恩一起，应用我们的MNP和生物膜根除研究，建立可能根除生物膜所需的适当尺寸和**形状的纳米颗粒。在此次Engage Grant期间开发的纳米颗粒技术将被应用到凯恩的人类和动物健康技术组合中，**被用于解决这些领域的生物膜问题的新方法。

The rise in antibiotic resistance is a global health-care problem [WHO - Antimicrobial resistance: Global report**on surveillance 2014]. There is a critical need for new strategies to combat infections. Topical biocides are a**possible solution to many hospital-acquired infections as they may be applied directly to the point of infection**and have a broad spectrum of microbial targets. However, they are not target specific - cytotoxicity is a**problem. This challenge may be addressed by coating magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) with a biocide, enabling**removal from the infection site using a magnet field, and controlling contact time. To enable this technology**requires detailed insight into coating-chemistry, the MNPs magnetism, and the size and shape of MNPs to use.**Bacterial biofilms also cause tremendous infection problems. Biofilms consist of a community of**microorganisms with an extracellular matrix, and can be very difficult to remove as standard antibiotics and**disinfectants poorly penetrate the biofilm to kill or inhibit pathogenic microorganisms. Biofilms are perpetually**present on medical devices and wounds, and are a source of persistent and recurrent infections. With Kane**Biotech, my group is tackling this "biofilm problem" using new MNPs my group develops to create new**technologies for biofilm eradication using static and dynamic magnetic fields with the MNPs. Kane Biotech is**a Canadian company focused on novel products that prevent and disperse bacterial biofilms. For over 15 years**Kane Biotech's R&D division has been developing new technologies and innovations leading to over 75**patents and patents pending in biotechnology focusing primarily on biofilms. Through this Engage Grant, with**Kane, together we will apply our MNP and biofilm eradication research to establish the appropriate size and**shape of nanoparticles necessary to make possible biofilm eradication. The nanoparticle technology developed**during this Engage Grant will be adopted into Kane's portfolio of human and animal health technologies to be**leveraged into new ways to address those areas' biofilm problem.