Abstract

‘Soft’ nanomaterials have the potential to produce substantive antibiofilm effects. The aim of this study was to understand the oral antimicrobial activity of soft nanomaterials generated from alpha-tocopherol (α-T) and alpha-tocopherol phosphate (α-TP). (+) α-TP formed planar bilayer islands (175 ± 21 nm, −14.9 ± 3.5 mV) in a Trizma® buffer, whereas (+) α-T formed spherical liposomes (563 ± 1 nm, −10.5 ± 0.2 mV). The (+) α-TP bilayers displayed superior Streptococcus oralis biofilm growth retardation, a more substantive action, generated a superior adsorption to hydroxyapatite and showed an enhanced inhibition of multi-species bacterial saliva biofilm growth (38 ± 7μm vs 58 ± 18 μm, P ˂ 0.05) compared to (+) α-T. Atomic force microscopy data indicated that the ability of the ‘soft’ α-TP nanomaterials to transition into planar bilayer structures upon contact with interfaces facilitated their adhesive properties and substantive antimicrobial effects.

Highlights

  • The ability of synthetic nanomaterials to impair bacterial adhesion, dismantle biofilms and kill microorganisms has been established using solid nanosized particles.[1,2,3,4] there is a lack of information about how ‘soft’ nanomaterials, e.g. liposomes, act as antimicrobial agents.[5]

  • The aim of this study was to understand the antimicrobial activity of soft nanomaterials generated from alpha-tocopherol (α-T) and alpha-tocopheryl phosphate (α-TP). α-T shows some surface activity in aqueous solvents where it forms liposomes, but when phosphorylated to produce alpha-tocopheryl phosphate (α-TP) the phosphate of α-TP will be charged, which enables it to bind charged surfaces, e.g., teeth.[9]

  • The structure of (+) α-TP (obtained with a 27% yield and 99% purity, see supplementary materials, Figure S1) was confirmed by the presence of a single phosphorus nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) peak at −1.27 ppm (See supplementary materials, Figure S2, A), 29 carbon NMR peaks and the aromatic methyl group chemical shifts of (+) α-T and (+) α-TP, which indicated that the conversion from (+) α-T to (+) α-TP was successful

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Summary

Introduction

The ability of synthetic nanomaterials to impair bacterial adhesion, dismantle biofilms and kill microorganisms has been established using solid nanosized particles.[1,2,3,4] there is a lack of information about how ‘soft’ nanomaterials, e.g. liposomes, act as antimicrobial agents.[5] Soft nanomaterials can elicit antimicrobial effects, in a similar manner to solid nanomaterials, through physical surface interactions with microorganisms, but in addition, soft nanomaterials can

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Methods
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