Eugenol-Functionalized Magnetite Nanoparticles Modulate Virulence and Persistence in <i>Pseudomonas aeruginosa</i> Clinical Strains
Hamzah Basil Mohammed,
Sajjad Mohsin I. Rayyif,
Carmen Curutiu,
Alexandra Catalina Birca,
Ovidiu-Cristian Oprea,
Alexandru Mihai Grumezescu,
Lia-Mara Ditu,
Irina Gheorghe,
Mariana Carmen Chifiriuc,
Grigore Mihaescu,
Alina-Maria Holban
Affiliations
Hamzah Basil Mohammed
Microbiology & Immunology Department, Faculty of Biology, University of Bucharest, 77206 Bucharest, Romania
Sajjad Mohsin I. Rayyif
Microbiology & Immunology Department, Faculty of Biology, University of Bucharest, 77206 Bucharest, Romania
Carmen Curutiu
Microbiology & Immunology Department, Faculty of Biology, University of Bucharest, 77206 Bucharest, Romania
Alexandra Catalina Birca
Department of Science and Engineering of Oxide Materials and Nanomaterials, Faculty of Applied Chemistry and Materials Science, Politehnica University of Bucharest, 011061 Bucharest, Romania
Ovidiu-Cristian Oprea
Department of Science and Engineering of Oxide Materials and Nanomaterials, Faculty of Applied Chemistry and Materials Science, Politehnica University of Bucharest, 011061 Bucharest, Romania
Alexandru Mihai Grumezescu
Research Institute of the University of Bucharest—ICUB, University of Bucharest, 050657 Bucharest, Romania
Lia-Mara Ditu
Microbiology & Immunology Department, Faculty of Biology, University of Bucharest, 77206 Bucharest, Romania
Irina Gheorghe
Microbiology & Immunology Department, Faculty of Biology, University of Bucharest, 77206 Bucharest, Romania
Mariana Carmen Chifiriuc
Microbiology & Immunology Department, Faculty of Biology, University of Bucharest, 77206 Bucharest, Romania
Grigore Mihaescu
Microbiology & Immunology Department, Faculty of Biology, University of Bucharest, 77206 Bucharest, Romania
Alina-Maria Holban
Microbiology & Immunology Department, Faculty of Biology, University of Bucharest, 77206 Bucharest, Romania
Efficient antibiotics to cure Pseudomonas aeruginosa persistent infections are currently insufficient and alternative options are needed. A promising lead is to design therapeutics able to modulate key phenotypes in microbial virulence and thus control the progression of the infectious process without selecting resistant mutants. In this study, we developed a nanostructured system based on Fe3O4 nanoparticles (NPs) and eugenol, a natural plant-compound which has been previously shown to interfere with microbial virulence when utilized in subinhibitory concentrations. The obtained functional NPs are crystalline, with a spherical shape and 10–15 nm in size. The subinhibitory concentrations (MIC 1/2) of the eugenol embedded magnetite NPs (Fe3O4@EUG) modulate key virulence phenotypes, such as attachment, biofilm formation, persister selection by ciprofloxacin, and the production of soluble enzymes. To our knowledge, this is the first report on the ability of functional magnetite NPs to modulate P. aeruginosa virulence and phenotypic resistance; our data highlights the potential of these bioactive nanostructures to be used as anti-pathogenic agents.
