Mimicking the competitive interactions to reduce resistance induction in antibacterial actions

Abstract

Bacterial resistance induced by antibacterial nanomaterials alert us that winning the arms race between bacteria and antibacterial agents requires new ideas. We provide a proof-of-concept investigation into mimicking competitive interactions in ecosystems to control bacteria contamination. Competitors in ecosystems can have similar geometry scale and gain advantages via strategies such as physical killing and nutrient competition. Antibacterial materials can be designed to mimic these competitive strategies to address the problem of bacterial resistance induced by nanomaterials. Herein, we tune the morphology of spiny particles (NH2-MIL-101(Al) MOFs) to prove our concept. Their mechano-bactericidal activity was proved in this work, they also competed nutrients with bacteria and did not leach antibacterial chemicals to the microenvironment. This material showed potential to prevent inducing bacterial resistance over time as demonstrated in this work. Furthermore, the biocompatibility was tested in vitro using MDA-MB-231 cells, the particles can be engulfed into the cells without inducing necrosis or apoptosis. This work demonstrated the feasibility of mimicking the competitive interactions by biomimetic materials to reduce bacterial resistance.