Development of nanoantibiotics based on a novel nanoimprinting technology

We present an innovative project concerned with the development of a novel class of antiviral and antibacterial agents based on using nanotechnology. We call this novel class of agents 'nanoantibiotics' and the new idea here is to use nanoimprinting technology to produce a 'negative' inorganic replica of the pathogen, i.e. nanoparticles that fit specifically to its shape and bind to its surface through bio adhesion. The later is achieved by additional surface functionalisation of the inorganic replica particle. Once in contact with the virus pathogen, the nanoantibiotic particle can bind specifically to it and can prevent the viral capsid (from disassembling and releasing the viral DNA). Similarly, nanoantibiotics designed for bacterial pathogens can 'fit' on a part of the bacterial wall and stop its further mitosis and reproduction. Such 'tailor made' nanoshells are expected to act as powerful antibiotics at very low concentration since one nanoantibiotic particle would be able to deactivate a whole virus or specific bacteria. The lack of other organic materials in the composition of the nanoantibiotic particles and the low concentrations needed for their antibiotic action are expected to lead to low toxicity and high efficiency against the specific pathogens they are designed to deactivate. It is anticipated that this novel class of antibiotic nanoparticles that are 'tailor made' for specific pathogens can be applied to highly resistant lines of bacteria (like the super bug MRSA) and many others where most conventional antibiotics are powerless. The improvement here is that the nanoantibiotic particles would recognise not only the surface chemistry of the pathogen but also its shape as a result of the nanoimprinting process. It is expected that these nanoantibiotics can also be used as non-toxic bacteriostatic agents, which would make them applicable in the food industry, for example to prevent E-coli bacteria from developing and propagating on food formulations. In Personal Care products such antibiotics could also find application since some common problems such as dandruff and sweat are also caused by bacteria. Another interesting application is for the preservation of pro-biotics - If the nanobiotic coating does not kill micro-organisms, but just encapsulates them, then it could be used as a protection shell protecting bacteria from the harsh environment, during processing and storage, where using current technologies about 90% of the initial pro-biotic culture is destroyed. The advantage of using such a coating is that it can spontaneously self-assemble around specific pro-biotics, while leaving other micro-organisms unprotected. Such a nanobiotic coating should be designed so that it dissolves in stomach conditions due to low pH, (for example using CaCO3 shells) so that it releases the pro-biotics when the food is ingested.