Autonomous treatment of bacterial infections in vivo using antimicrobial micro- and nanomachines

ABSTRACT The increasing resistance of bacteria to existing antibiotics constitutes a major public health threat globally. Most current antibiotic treatments are hindered by poor delivery to the infection site, leading to undesired off-target effects and drug resistance development and spread. Here, we describe micro- and nanomachines that effectively and autonomously deliver antibiotic payloads to the target area. The active motion and antimicrobial activity of the silica-based robots are driven by catalysis of the enzyme urease and antimicrobial peptides, respectively. These antimicrobial machines show micromolar bactericidal activity in vitro against different Gram-positive and Gram-negative pathogenic bacterial strains and act by rapidly depolarizing their membrane. Finally, they demonstrated autonomous anti-infective efficacy in vivo in a clinically relevant abscess infection mouse model. In summary, our machines combine navigation, catalytic conversion, and bactericidal capacity to deliver antimicrobial payloads to specific infection sites. This technology represents a much-needed tool to direct therapeutics to their target to help combat drug-resistant infections.