Nanomedicine/drug delivery systems for musculoskeletal diseases caused by Staphylococcus aureus
The research of Dr. Dong Wang’s laboratory focuses on development of nanomedicine/drug delivery systems for musculoskeletal diseases. S. aureus is a major cause of bacterial infection often associated with orthopedic and other medical devices and implants. The treatment can be difficult, partially due to the lack of methodologies that would maintain proper antimicrobial concentration at the implantation site. To address this problem, our laboratory has developed a biomineral-binding liposomal delivery platform, which will allow retention and sustained release of antimicrobials at the implant surface for the prevention of S. aureus colonization. The biomineral binding capacity of the liposome is achieved by conjugating a biomineral binding moiety to the liposome surface using “click-chemistry”. Our data show that this novel liposome could swiftly (within 5 minutes) bind to hydroxyapatite (HA, or main component of the bone) particles. In vitro S. aureus culture experiments have revealed that the biomineral binding liposome loaded with oxacillin provides significantly better prevention of S. aureus biofilm formation on HA discs compared to non-binding liposomes loaded with oxacillin, empty biomineral-binding liposomes, saline, and untreated controls, which may be explained by the retention and the sustained oxacillin release. A series of other biomineral binding drug delivery platforms such as biomineral binding micelles are also being developed for the formulation of other antimicrobials.
The research of Dr. Dong Wang’s laboratory focuses on development of nanomedicine/drug delivery systems for musculoskeletal diseases. S. aureus is a major cause of bacterial infection often associated with orthopedic and other medical devices and implants. The treatment can be difficult, partially due to the lack of methodologies that would maintain proper antimicrobial concentration at the implantation site. To address this problem, our laboratory has developed a biomineral-binding liposomal delivery platform, which will allow retention and sustained release of antimicrobials at the implant surface for the prevention of S. aureus colonization. The biomineral binding capacity of the liposome is achieved by conjugating a biomineral binding moiety to the liposome surface using “click-chemistry”. Our data show that this novel liposome could swiftly (within 5 minutes) bind to hydroxyapatite (HA, or main component of the bone) particles. In vitro S. aureus culture experiments have revealed that the biomineral binding liposome loaded with oxacillin provides significantly better prevention of S. aureus biofilm formation on HA discs compared to non-binding liposomes loaded with oxacillin, empty biomineral-binding liposomes, saline, and untreated controls, which may be explained by the retention and the sustained oxacillin release. A series of other biomineral binding drug delivery platforms such as biomineral binding micelles are also being developed for the formulation of other antimicrobials.