BIOLOGICALLY TRIGGERED NANO-FORMULATIONS FOR PREVENTION AND TARGETING OF BACTERIAL BIOFILM

Abstract

The research thesis develops and characterizes biologically triggered nano-formulations along with their testing process for bacterial biofilms prevention and targeting. The production of biofilm communities of bacteria through a self-made extracellular polymer substance makes these microbial groups highly resistant to common antibiotics and results in serious treatment barriers during medical care, particularly for persistent infections. The main goal of this study was to develop and analyze novel nanomaterials that would provide controlled tetracycline hydrochloride drug release to combat bacterial biofilm resistance factors. The nano-formulation is based on polyacrylic acid nanogel (Carbopol Aqua SF1) as its core, which is loaded with tetracycline and then coated with a subsequent layers of bovine serum albumin (BSA) and Shellac. This coating creates a protective shell, encapsulating the antibiotic in the core but contains weak portion inclusions to enable bacterial protease-triggered drug release specifically within biofilm environments. In vitro and in vivo studies demonstrated that this nano-formulated antibiotic delivery system succeeded in both blocking biofilm formation and slowing down bacterial development with low toxicity effects on human keratinocyte cells. This research findings indicate that the antibiotic-loaded BSA-shellac coated Carbopol formulation serves as a promising prevention agent for biofilm-based bacterial infections as it offers controlled drug and biological stimuli responsive delivery system for controlled drug release.