Oxygen-vacancy-rich molybdenum carbide MXene nanonetworks for ultrasound-triggered and capturing-enhanced sonocatalytic bacteria eradication

Lingqing Zong; Yang Yu; Junhao Wang; Peilai Liu; Wei Feng; Xinyue Dai; Liang Chen; Cindy Gunawan; Sung Lai Jimmy Yun; Rose Amal; Soshan Cheong; Zi Gu; Yu Chen

doi:10.1016/j.biomaterials.2023.122074

Oxygen-vacancy-rich molybdenum carbide MXene nanonetworks for ultrasound-triggered and capturing-enhanced sonocatalytic bacteria eradication

Biomaterials. 2023 May:296:122074. doi: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2023.122074. Epub 2023 Mar 1.

Authors

Lingqing Zong¹, Yang Yu², Junhao Wang³, Peilai Liu⁴, Wei Feng⁵, Xinyue Dai³, Liang Chen³, Cindy Gunawan⁶, Sung Lai Jimmy Yun⁷, Rose Amal⁸, Soshan Cheong⁹, Zi Gu¹⁰, Yu Chen¹¹

Affiliations

¹ School of Chemical Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia; Australian Centre for NanoMedicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia.
² Department of Orthopaedics, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, 250012, PR China.
³ Materdicine Lab, School of Life Sciences, Shanghai University, Shanghai, 200444, PR China.
⁴ Department of Orthopaedics, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, 250012, PR China. Electronic address: gklpl@163.com.
⁵ Materdicine Lab, School of Life Sciences, Shanghai University, Shanghai, 200444, PR China. Electronic address: fengw@shu.edu.cn.
⁶ Australian Institute for Microbiology and Infection, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, NSW, 2007, Australia.
⁷ College of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Engineering, Hebei University of Science and Technology, Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province, 050018, PR China; School of Mechanical Engineering, Qingdao University of Technology, Qingdao, Shandong Province, 266520, PR China.
⁸ School of Chemical Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia.
⁹ Mark Wainwright Analytical Centre, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, 2052, Australia.
¹⁰ School of Chemical Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia; Australian Centre for NanoMedicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia; UNSW RNA Institute, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia. Electronic address: zi.gu1@unsw.edu.au.
¹¹ Materdicine Lab, School of Life Sciences, Shanghai University, Shanghai, 200444, PR China. Electronic address: chenyuedu@shu.edu.cn.

PMID: 36889145
DOI: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2023.122074

Abstract

Incurable bacterial infection and intractable multidrug resistance remain critical challenges in public health. A prevalent approach against bacterial infection is phototherapy including photothermal and photodynamic therapy, which is unfortunately limited by low penetration depth of light accompanied with inevitable hyperthermia and phototoxicity damaging healthy tissues. Thus, eco-friendly strategy with biocompatibility and high antimicrobial efficacy against bacteria is urgently desired. Herein, we propose and develop an oxygen-vacancy-rich MoO_xin situ on fluorine-free Mo₂C MXene with unique neural-network-like structure, namely MoO_x@Mo₂C nanonetworks, in which their desirable antibacterial effectiveness originates from bacteria-capturing ability and robust reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation under precise ultrasound (US) irradiation. The high-performance, broad-spectrum microbicidal activity of MoO_x@Mo₂C nanonetworks without damaging normal tissues is validated based on systematic in vitro and in vivo assessments. Additionally, RNA sequencing analysis illuminates that the underlying bactericidal mechanism is attributed to the chaotic homeostasis and disruptive peptide metabolisms on bacteria instigated by MoO_x@Mo₂C nanonetworks under US stimulation. Considering antibacterial efficiency and a high degree of biosafety, we envision that the MoO_x@Mo₂C nanonetworks can serve as a distinct antimicrobial nanosystem to fight against diverse pathogenic bacteria, especially eradicating multidrug-resistant bacteria-induced deep tissue infection.

Keywords: Bacteria capturing; MXene heterostructure; Sonodynamic therapy; Synergistic antibacterial activity.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Anti-Bacterial Agents / chemistry
Anti-Bacterial Agents / pharmacology
Bacteria
Bacterial Infections*
Humans
Hyperthermia, Induced*
Molybdenum / chemistry
Molybdenum / pharmacology
Oxygen

Substances

molybdenum carbide
Oxygen
MXene
Anti-Bacterial Agents
Molybdenum