Mesoporous silica nanoparticles as diagnostic and therapeutic tools: how can they combat bacterial infection?

Nanoparticle-based drug delivery is one of the most promising approaches to overcome the challenges in the delivery of therapeutic compounds to the site of interest. The size of particles on the nanoscale provides them access to many otherwise inaccessible areas in the body. With the aid of nanoparticle-based drug-delivery systems, the drug of interest can be accumulated at the necessary site whereby the penetration of the drug through the target cells is improved. The essential aim of drug delivery is not only to improve efficacy, safety and/or patient comfort but also the personalization of therapies tailoring the design of the drug-delivery systems. With the sophisticated design of nanoparticles, prominent therapeutic and diagnostic functionalities can be obtained that are quite distinctive from those obtainable by conventional approaches.

An increasing number of bacterial infections are caused by antibiotic-resistant strains and persistent biofilms, which are structured communities of bacterial cells embedded in a self-produced matrix, and attributed to a variety of chronic infections [1]. Implementation of nanoparticle-based antibacterial treatments and diagnosis is currently considered one of the most promising strategies to overcome the challenges of bacterial infections, such as the increasing treatment failures caused by antimicrobial resistance and the persistent nature of biofilms in the treatments; as well as the declined investments in antimicrobial drug discovery during the past few decades [2]. The groundbreaking approaches in combating bacterial infections has been devoted to the utilization of nanoparticles as versatile tools for the diagnosis as well as prevention (e.g., vaccination and medical devices) and treatment of bacterial infections [3].